The Wonder Years

Red/Green Tortilla Chips with Cranberry Lime Salsa

This recipe was easy and fast to make, and met with rave reviews.

Spinach Artichoke Dip

One of my favorites; serve it up warm in a bread bowl - so yummy!

Main Dish-

I bought a smoked ham from Costco this year and it was really good. Definitely a good substitute for HoneyBaked Ham since that will run you about $80+, and Costco's was about $22.

I also purchased chicken tamales from Costco and they were really good. Another good main dish if you don't want to slave over the stove for hours. They are not homemade but do taste like it!

Side Dish-

Corn Casserole

Easy and people love it!

Dessert-

Andes Mint Brownies

WOW. I have made these twice and had a lot of people ask for the recipe. If you are in a rush and want to simplify this recipe, instead of making the first layer (brownies) from scratch, you could buy a mix of dark chocolate brownies and that would work too. Then make the second and third layers from the recipe.

Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake

This recipe has been on my blog before, but this one is always a winner! A great substitute for pumpkin pie.

If you need more recipes, you can visit my past blog post on Christmas recipes here, or follow my recipe board on Pinterest. Thanks for stopping by and Happy Cooking!!

Sing.

2011-12-13T20:26:00.000-08:00

I made myself a Christmas gift today. It cost $2.

I purchased a photo frame pendant from Joann's and, instead of a photo, I wanted to put a word inside. Recently I was given a huge box of old sheet music, so I searched for just the right word to put inside of the frame. The word I chose was "Sing."

Today I did not feel like singing. It was one of those Mom Days. You know... "Mommmyyyyyyy!!!" attached to lots of crying and whining.

There are blogs out there that make you feel like a failure as a mother, because they portray life as perfect and fine and dandy, and you wonder what in the world you are doing wrong. I really hope this blog doesn't make you feel that way. I have always tried to be honest about things, how hard being a mom is, how my boys drive me nuts sometimes, and how there are days I just want to stay in bed with the covers over my head. Today was that day.

I seriously feel like my boys don't want to have fun. Ever. Both of them hate doing fun things, and I'm not kidding. Go to a theme park? Chances are, they'll cry about it. Go to a birthday party? They will definitely moan about it and then not participate at all. Go to a park? No thanks! Go to a fun store with mommy? Yeah, right! Do a craft? Oh please! What are we doing wrong here? I feel like they came out of the womb with a "just leave me alone" sign strapped to their heads.

After school is just the best part of the day. Micah comes home, and the boys begin getting all of their pent up anger out for the entire day. They chase each other around the house, one screaming and the other crying. Someone inevitably runs into a wall and gets hurt, and then tries to hit the other one for making him run into that wall. For 2 hours I am basically trying to calm them down. After about 18 time-outs, they usually end up sitting on their bed until dinner time. Fun times, people!

Tonight there were tears about the bath not being long enough, about what pajamas to wear, about the fact we were only reading 2 books instead of 3, about wanting more food to eat, and on and on.

What in the world does this have to do with my necklace, you ask?

For one thing, I think we mothers need to do nice things for ourselves once in awhile. Even if they only cost $2.

Secondly, we need something that will always remind us to have perspective. Yes, today was a bad day. I should still find something I can sing about. I know that tomorrow after school will likely have challenges. How can I find something to sing about in that time? I'm not trying to be unrealistic - I'm just trying to not kill myself sometimes. (Not really, don't freak out). And that necklace? Well, today I kept grabbing it with my hand and just holding it. Jesus is the real one who calms me down, but that necklace somehow helped me to stay focused today.

In every moment, I need to find something that I can sing about - even if it is just, "Help me, Lord Jesus!"

{Pinterest} You Know You're a Pinner If....

2011-12-10T13:33:00.000-08:00

Pinterest. Beautiful, fun, addictive - it's a like a video game for women. Only now men are catching on too. If you're not sure what Pinterest is, it is a giant bulletin board of all of your favorite things from the web in one place. Yet it's more than that - it's the "best of the best" from the web: recipes, decorating ideas, crafts, fun ideas for kids, quotes, and hundreds of more good things. You can create your own boards of things you're interested in, and then "pin" photos to your boards. This way everything you like is in one place, on one site, and categorized well.

There are so many fun things to do on Pinterest that it can start taking over your life - in a good way, of course. Here is my Top 10 list (in David Letterman-style) of things you probably do if you're on Pinterest.

You Know You're a Pinner If....

1. You have 5 sweaters missing arms because you've decided to make boot leg warmers!

2. You have hot glue scars all over your hands, but tell everyone they are from Pinterest and wear them proudly!

3. You are on some kind of 30 Day Fitness Plan.

4. You are looking cuter than usual lately!

5. Suddenly you're the best cook on the block!

6. You have bags under your eyes and repeat in your sleep, "Just. One. More. Pin!"

7. You check Pinterest before Google!
(I just had to post this one - too funny) :)

8. You have pallets lying around "just for fun."

9. You have at least 2 projects in your house made out of burlap.

Burlap Wreath Link

10. 30 days ago you had never sewed, and now you're Martha Stewart.

What would you add to the list? ;) If you are not on Pinterest and would like an invite, leave a comment with your email and I'll be sure to send you an invite. Sometimes that is faster than requesting to join yourself. If you'd like to follow me on Pinterest, you can do so here. Thanks for visiting, and "Happy Pinning!"

(Here's a prettier version if you want to "Pin It"!)

New Adventures

2011-12-08T21:35:00.000-08:00

It's been awhile since I've been over here at The Wonder Years, and I miss it! I have a few blog posts in the works so please don't give up and keep checking in! :)

As many of you know, I decided to end my photography business this summer. After 6 years, I just felt it was time for a change. When photo shoots start giving you high blood pressure and make you have nightmares, you know you need to take a break. I still greatly enjoy editing, but the photo shoots just became un-enjoyable after so long.

As I've been praying about what to do next, I picked up a small side job as an Event Coordinator for a small insurance company. It's only 4-8 hours every other month, so it is not much, but still fun. For a few hours I get to put my business-attire and pretend I'm an executive. Sort of.

Anyway, what is really exciting me is that I've started taking writing more seriously and have been working on a book for the past 6 months. I don't want to reveal the title just yet, but it is a book for stay-at-home moms. Speaking has also been a passion of mine, and I've been praying for more opportunities to speak at local churches and women's groups. A few months ago I launched JaimieBowman.com, which is my promotional (ministry) website for speaking and writing. My blog over there is focused on women in ministry, so if you are passionate about that, please hop on over! I have to admit, it is humbling (and a bit embarrassing) to have a website named after myself and try to promote it. Yet in this digital world, I'm realizing people don't take you very seriously if you don't have these things in place.

I'm also very excited to be attending (and working at) the Re:Write Conference, which will be held in San Diego from March 2-4, 2012. If you are an aspiring writer, you need to attend this conference. Even if you are "just" a blogger, like me, this will give you great tips on how to expand your audience and sharpen your writing skills. The normal cost of the conference (without lodging) is $595, but right now Money Saving Mom is offering a huge discount and you can register for only $199.

That's the latest from my neck of the woods! Thanks for checking in. Please feel free to visit my new website at www.jaimiebowman.com and become a follower there too. I greatly appreciate it!!

The Jesse Tree

2011-11-30T19:53:00.000-08:00

Each year I'm looking for creative ways to share the Christmas story with the boys, and I'm so excited about what I found this year. I will be up ALL night tonight preparing for it, but it will be worth it! This is one of those things that will be able to be used for years to come, and maybe even passed down from generation to generation.

I got this idea from Ashley at The Creative Place. I googled "Mini Advent Book" and came across her blog, which is amazing! She created this cute Mini Advent Book for her kids, and last night I got started on it myself.

http://www.thecreativeplace.blogspot.com/

Unfortunately, my envelopes are not turning out as cute as hers! :)

In the process of creating the envelopes for that project, I emailed her last night and she said she is updating the advent book to include the verses from The Jesse Tree. I first heard about The Jesse Tree last year from Ann Voskamp's blog A Holy Experience. However, when I tried to print out the downloadable book, I didn't have enough toner for the 68 pages, and the content seemed way over my 3 and 5 year old's heads, so we didn't end up using it.

Ashley and I were writing about this dilemma and she referred me over to this blog, where the author had simplified the Jesse Tree for younger children. Ashley had a great idea to incorporate the two ideas (the mini advent book & the Jesse Tree), and a new idea was born!

Now I'm working all night to finish the envelopes and stuff them with the Scriptures used from The Jesse Tree blog. Each reading also has a corresponding ornament, so guess where I'm headed tonight? I'm going to be the crazy lady at Joann's at 9:30pm!

In addition to reading the boys a Scripture passage each night and putting a special ornament on the tree, we're also going to continue a tradition we started last year. I have an old Starbucks advent-calendar "tree" that has 25 boxes. When all of the boxes are turned over, it makes a cute picture.

In each of the boxes I put a fun activity that we will do each day during the month of December. My problem is going to be coming up with 25 different activities!! (Enter PINTEREST).

I think those two projects are going to keep me busy for awhile. Thanks to Ashley at The Creative Place and Catherine at Our Jesse Tree for the great ideas!

Thankful Little Hearts

2011-11-27T23:09:00.000-08:00

It's starting to become a Thanksgiving tradition to take our family Christmas pictures on that day (or the day after). This year we ventured outside my parent's house down a little path that is a protected nature habitat. The problem was, Jaden was not happy. To make matters worse, Micah had thrown a tantrum for over 30 minutes before the photos about the fact that we were making him wear jeans, and he wanted to wear shorts. He was still getting over that, so we had 2 very unhappy boys on our hands. PERFECT timing for family Christmas pictures.

As I wrote about yesterday, this was another one of those things that was just out of my control. After they got running around, they mellowed out a bit. However, Jaden is already tired of having a photographer mama and so he is not amused by my efforts to take even more photos of him.

The boys thought it would be funny to mess around during our photo shoot after they had finally calmed down. We got a few cute pictures after bribing them with a treat if they behaved (did I just admit that?), but it was still frustrating at times.

Here is one where they were not listening and decided to run instead of walk with us:

It's funny, if you didn't know the story, you might think this was planned. "How cute! They're running in front of their parents!" NOT CUTE. I am in the background shouting, "Get back here right now! 1-2-3!" (Yes, I count too! So sue me) ;)

Here's another winner:

Here's one of Jaden when we told him to "Smile" -

And when we told Micah to "Smile"-

And then in this one we finally got Jaden to smile (a little), only to have Micah start messing around:

Sometimes I wonder if we are the only ones with difficult children. No matter how hard we try, I feel like they get mad, frustrated, talk back, or have attitudes. They also feed off of each other, so one could be in a great mood, only to have the other one spoil it. I think it's good to be honest with each other about these things, because sometimes I read other blogs and feel like I'm the only one whose kids have issues. So, there is some honesty for you.

Another issue we have is at dinner every night when there is a big argument about who gets to PRAY. The boys fight over whose night it is, and before you know it there are tears and time-outs. Tonight I let them each choose 2 nights of the week they can pray, and we will cover the rest. That seemed to work out well. They both pray pretty much the same prayers every night.

Micah: "Thank you God for our dinner, and our house, and our cat. Amen."

Jaden: "Thank you God for our dinner, and for our house, and our cat, and our driveway. Amen."

We always stifle a laugh when he says "driveway" because it's so cute, but tonight I asked him about it. Micah replied, "He thanks God for that because we get to ride our scooters up and down our driveway when we play outside." Jaden nodded affirmatively. It's the little things.

It got me thinking - am I thankful for the little things like that? Am I thankful when my boys argue and fight? Am I thankful when they throw tantrums and won't smile for pictures? Am I thankful that they are brothers who love each other still, and have the privilege of growing up together? Am I thankful that even when things aren't going according to plan, they might still be having fun?

Am I thankful for the things that normally go unnoticed, like our driveway?

I'm thankful that little eyes see things that big eyes don't see, and little hearts feel things that big hearts overlook.

I'm thankful that even though our photo shoot didn't go as planned, we still had some fun and ended up with smiles on all of our faces.

Mama just needs to be thankful, and take a chill pill.

P.S. A special thank you to my sister for her patience and photography skills!!

Out of My Control

2011-11-26T23:32:00.000-08:00

Do you ever feel like God is continually trying to teach you that you are not in control? I am in that season, and it is tough sometimes. It seems like every day I'm faced with some new challenge that reminds me that I am not in control of my life, and I just need to deal with it.

Take Thanksgiving day, for instance. I planned ahead and ordered our family meal from Sprouts this year. Confirmation letter received, I was to pick up our meal on Thanksgiving Day at 10am. We decided to go as a family to pick it up, but when we arrived we found no cars in the parking lot. "Warning - Warning!!" my mind started to shout. Martin parked the car and I rushed to the front doors. They were locked. Nobody was inside. I stood there for probably five minutes with my face and hands pressed to the glass doors, looking inside for any signs of life. Nothing. Nobody.

I walked back to the car, fighting back tears. I was so confused and overwhelmed. Just the thought of having to go to a grocery store and pick up a 12-pound frozen turkey with all the fixin's was enough to make me have a nervous breakdown. We sat in the car and tried to figure out what went wrong. After the 10 minute drive back home, I checked my email again, and then made a phone call to Henry's Market. The man on the phone read my name and order right back to me, and said it was there waiting for me. Henry's and Sprouts recently merged, and both addresses were on the same street within 1 block from each other. PHEW! I cannot tell you how relieved I was!

Back in the car we went, and I just about kissed the deli guy who worked there. I was SO happy! The whole "charade" took about an hour because of driving back and forth to the house. During that time, I felt so helpless, so mad, so frustrated. But it all worked out in the end. Once again, something was out of my control, and I just had to wait.

It is a test of character, waiting is. A test of our faith. A test of perseverance and patience.

Something else happened out of my control this month. Our church decided to consolidate with another church. That might not be a huge deal to some, but when your husband is one of the pastors of the church, it is a huge deal. It means his job will be changing a bit, he will have even more responsibility, our time together as a family will be affected. It means that we're leaving our building and the comfortability of the church we've known and loved for 9 years, and we're going somewhere new. Change is hard.

It is a test of character, change is. A test of our faith. A test of perseverance and patience.

Tomorrow is our last Sunday at our church, before we all move together to the new church. Our "family" of 150 is growing to 350. Our staff of 3 is growing to a staff of 6. The faces I have come to know will be mixed in with 200 faces I don't know. Once again, I'm faced with a situation that is out of my control, and it is scary.

I know more situations will come that are out of my control; in fact, this is only 2 of hundreds that have happened this year. But with each situation, I hope and pray that my character is deepening, my patience is growing stronger, my trust is becoming more secure.

Tonight I'm thankful that when things feel out of control, I can put my trust in the One who is in control.

Whatever situation you are in that is out of your control, take a moment to stop and breathe. With every breath you take, say "I will trust in You." We are learning valuable lessons, and although they are not fun, they are drawing us closer to Him.

Psalm 73:28
"But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds."

Fun Pinterest Projects for Thanksgiving

2011-11-22T20:06:00.000-08:00

Today Micah had to stay home from school since he is sick, and unfortunately he had to miss his Thanksgiving party at school. Now, normally I don't consider myself a crafty person (in the "kid's art" department, anyway), but had recently seen some cute Thanksgiving crafts on Pinterest. Here are a few we decided to do today, that were easy and fun to do:

I didn't have the exact supplies that were in the above photo, so improvised with what we had on hand. The boys loved this!

Our next project was the Pinecone Turkey from this photo:

This site was so cute!! Instead of crayons, we used pipe cleaners.

Hey, we tried! :)

Since I was going to Micah's school to pick up his homework, we decided to make his teacher a Thanksgiving gift. This is what we wanted to make:

I got all the supplies recently at the dollar store, and it cost $4 total (not including the flowers, which I already had). Here's our version:

For lunch today, we made "Turkey Sandwiches" - another cute idea I found on Pinterest:

Here's our version :)

I know it looks like a lot for one day, but each project was so easy and only took about 10 minutes each. Lastly, for dinner I decided to make a brussel sprouts dish I saw on Pinterest. I have never eaten or made brussel sprouts before, but the photo looked good so I thought we'd try it! It was SO GOOD. The boys didn't touch it, of course, but we thought it was surprisingly amazing. Here it is: