beYOUtiful

(this is my gym bag pictured above…makes me smile everyday)

i have had it on my heart to post something this mother's day. i thought about what i wanted it to say and started to type then backspace would evidently prevail. then ethan's teacher spoke at our mommy muffin day at pre-school and it was confirmed, i should stick with my original thoughts. a couple days later i found out via social media that pastor barb would be speaking about something similar…once again confirmed…just go with it.

as moms our role is so important. we are given the responsibility of nurturing, teaching, being an example, guiding, loving unconditionally and disciplining our children. we become chef's, taxi drivers, booboo fixers, counselors, tickle monsters, cinderella (my fancy word for cleaning lady), cheerleaders...anyone have more to add? somehow we pull all of this off and to others it looks effortless. to our kids we are super moms,"rock stars" and almost perfect!

in the age of social media it's easy to compare yourself to others. most of us do not post pictures of our sink full of dishes, our dirty floors, the piles of laundry awaiting the washer or an argument we had with a loved one. what about a video of your child having a meltdown…instagram worthy? of course not…the family vacations, fancy restaurants, laughing babies, exotic trips, biggest catch,  flowers for no reason, new house and the job promotion are what we view as facebook worthy. i can honestly say that i am happy for all of my facebook friends and thats genuine...i truly enjoy seeing others happiness and success. however, a year or so ago i caught myself comparing my chapter 4 with others who were on their chapter 10 in the book of life. that can be something so easy to do and yet so not fair to ourselves. once i realized what i allowed to happen i remembered something pastor mike (pastor of our church) said, "you are doing better than you think you are." pastor mike said this during a teaching to the entire congregation on what jesus would say to each of us if he came and sat down right next to us. and really that is so true…we put so much pressure on ourselves to be in a certain place in our lives by a certain time that sometimes we do not stop and enjoy everything we have to be thankful for!

so even as i type this my floors need swept, i have dishes soaking in the sink, laundry on the floor and a bleeding finger and i am okay with that. i know that all of that will still be there when i am done with this post. and truly at times i have embraced the dirty floors happy kids philosophy because its really hard for me not to stop what i am doing to cuddle or play with our son ethan!


in the day and age where we are so open about our lives on social media its really time to stop and realize there is no comparison…you are you…and we are right where we are suppose to be in this journey of life. we need to stop the comparing and realize we are doing an amazing job. stop being to hard on ourselves and know our kids adore us and all that we do. use the skills god has given us and  stop comparing our skills with others. let's rejoice with others who are getting promotions, buying new houses, getting cool jobs, going on trips or buying new cars and having babies. these are all things to be happy about and just know that we all have the skills to make our dreams come true just like anyone else and it's  just a matter of making those same things happen for ourselves.

"there is no way to be a perfect mother and a million ways to be a good one", jill churchill.

be your self and beyoutiful because you are the only one that totally rocks at being you!

sophia the first cupcakes and cookies

we are a fan of sophia in this house. the pantry bakeshop recently created these for a lucky 2 year old. two words…adorably perfect

twice baked potatoes

i am a fan of spuds…you can keep bread away from me i could care less but potatoes can not be avoided especially with a grilled steak. i do not make these very often because they are super unhealthy and generally we eat clean but for one of those days you want to splurge these are amazing. and really nothing special…i just added the ingredients we like. some of my favorite recipes have no recipe at all just my creation! so check it out and let me know what you think. these can definitely be prepared the morning of or even the day before since the last step is to warm up or re-heat.

ingredients

6 large restaurant style potatoes

1 cup shredded mild cheddar cheese

1/4 cup sour cream (we love daisy)

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter…but don't tell anyone

1 cup of bacon bits (i prefer fresh so i cook the bacon and make my own crumbles)

1 cup of green onions/scallions chopped

1/2 cup of chives finely chopped

course seas salt

1. heat oven to 400 degrees. wash potatoes and then poke holes in them with a knife or fork. re-wet the potato if necessary and sprinkle with sea salt…you want the salt to stick. place directly on oven rack and back for about an hour until potatoes are soft with a slightly crunchy skin…yum!

2. remove from the oven and allow to cool so potatoes can be handled. once they are cool enough to touch slice them long ways down the center. then scoop out the inside of the potato and place in a medium sized mixing bowl.   (see photos below)





















3. once the insides of the potato are all scooped out place the stick of butter (yikes) in the bowl and allow the butter to melt with a lid on top or pop it in the microwave for a few seconds.  then mash potatoes using an electric mixer. you could hand mash as well but i prefer smooth and no lumps and hand mixing can take some time. mix until they are well blended and creamy. then add sour cream and mix. the remaining ingredients i fold in together. add the cheese, half of the bacon crumbles and scallions mix until evenly distributed.

4. next step is to fill the potato skins with that yummy mixture above. i actually used an easy accent decorator from the pampered chef to fill mine but feel fee to use a spoon or any other type of kitchen gadget.

5.  sprinkle remaining bacon bits over the top of each potato. if the bacon bits start to fall off gently press them into the potato.  place the potatoes in a pan or on a cookie sheet and warm at 350 degrees. you could also add them to the top rack of your grill if you are grilling. remove from oven or grill and sprinkle with scallions.

enjoy!!