Baking with Batter and Love

If you read the book The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman you will find that people show and receive love in five different ways.  Out of the five ways, the way I show my love is through acts of service, unselfishly doing things for others.  One of my favorite things to do is to bake, and to spend an afternoon baking with my children.  On Mother's Day this year I couldn't have been happier baking with these two and enjoying the smells of a freshly baked banana bread fill the house.  Being in the kitchen is my happy place, it is my comfort, where I feel I belong baking for the ones I love.

Now that I have children baking is even sweeter since it is something I can share with them.  Chloe enjoys helping- pouring and mixing batter, and decorating cakes and cookies.  Yates would prefer to just eat whatever we bake but lately he's become a bit more interested in what we are doing in the kitchen.

There is something about always having freshly baked goodies out on the kitchen counter that makes each day a bit sweeter, smiles a bit brighter and days a bit happier.  Seeing my children happy is what makes me happy- and baking is a way for me to show them how deep my love is for them.

My Granny's Traditions

"No one else will ever know the strength of my love for you.  After all, you are the only one who knows what my heart sounds like from the inside."

I found out I was pregnant with Chloe the Saturday before Mother's Day four years ago.  Today, this Mother's Day weekend, and the past four years have been perfect in every way.  I have my husband and my beautiful children to thank for giving me a purpose in life and for making me a better wife, mother, daughter, sister and friend.  I am eternally thankful for them.

Now that I am a mother myself, I am even more grateful for the two most influential women of my life- my mother and my Granny.  The lessons they have taught me and the traditions they have instilled in me I carry with me proudly and have made me the mother I am today.

I am very proud to say I have been raised southern, I have married a southern man and I try to raise my children with southern morals.  My grandmother was born on a farm, I ate Sunday lunch most weekends of my childhood on a dairy farm and I have fond memories of fried chicken, sundresses, and my mother talking about her summers spent under apple trees.  I think some things are never mean to be forgotten and so I hope that my children while they may never experience our family's dairy farm that I did, will appreciate our southern manners and what it means to grow up in the south.

This year I started thinking about those same southern traditions that I have tried to continue to pass down now that I have a family of my own, and what I wish for Chloe and Yates to carry with them as well.

1 // It is important to have dessert.  Everyday.  Preferably after every meal.  Don't deprive yourself.

2 // It is important to get outside.  Garden, walk, be active.  Be hands on.  Do things for yourself but be ladylike in the way you do it.  A women never tells when she sweats, or "perspires," but she should.

3 // Read.  Read books, newspapers, magazines.  Read for yourself and to your children.  They will then in turn love to read and that will serve them well in life.

4 // Grow a vegetable garden.  Make sure you include okra, green beans, squash, and tomatoes.  You will need to perfect the way you fry the okra you grow, of course.

5 // Perfect baking a really, really good pound cake.  The kind that takes all afternoon to make after sifting the flour at least twice so that the cake is rich and moist.  If the cake turns out "sad" (caves in the middle)... well that just won't do, and you will have to start over because you could never serve anyone a "sad" cake.

6 // Learn to appreciate a good gin martini.  Two is your limit though.  But make sure they are strong, with one olive.

7 // Nothing good ever happens after midnight (see #6).

8 // Sundays should be for church, family and fried chicken.  Also, rice is made for homemade gravy, which should always include peas, biscuits and dessert (see #1 and #5).  

9 // Love with all your heart.  Be grateful to everyone.  Use good manners, especially good table manners.  Don't put your elbows on the table.  Don't chew with your mouth full, and never ever, ever chew gum in church.

10 // Stand up straight.  Don't slouch.  Having good posture represents confidence and first impressions are everything.  You also never know who you might see, so always put on a bit of makeup no matter where you go.

11 // It's okay to drink a milkshake for breakfast, or a coke float.  You also should always have a variety of ice cream in the freezer.  Granny's favorite was coffee.

12 // Say what you mean and mean what you say.  My Granny always was able to speak her mind but she was witty and went about it in a way that never offended anyone.

Happy Mother's Day Granny.  You were and always will be my inspiration... the perfect southern lady.  You knew how to get your hands dirty planting okra every spring but also appreciated a fine country club dinner every Friday night.

I carry a piece of you in my heart every single day... and so therefore do my own children.

Favorite Photos Friday

My favorite photos from this week...

I'm not sure when it happened, but this little girl is now so grown up and this school year is almost over.

We pass by these flowers at our neighbor's house almost everyday on our walks.  They grow different wildflowers every spring and Chloe insists on smelling them every time.

We have had such great weather lately and I am excited for this weekend and spending lots of time outside.

Meanwhile, this little guy has been very full of himself.  Supposedly he's got a new girlfriend, Abby from preschool.  He talks about her all the time and is smitten.  Daddy thinks it's cute and hilarious.  Mama's not amused and a bit jealous.

He'd prefer to spend his whole day outside, on his 4-wheeler, digging for earthworms or shoveling rocks into his dump truck.

// Only 5 more weeks until school's out for summer! //

Peek-a-Boo!

I didn't realize we've been so busy until I saw the last time I posted was about snow!  We haven't been exactly hiding, or trying to play peek-a-boo... but going about our daily routine and trying to squeeze some fun into every afternoon after school.  I feel as though time has been going by so fast lately (but doesn't it always) and I can't believe in less than two months school will be out for the summer!

Recently Yates loves nothing more than playing with his hot wheel cars and lining them up side by side to race.  Usually it's the blue car that wins, although sometimes he lets his motorcycle cheat and enter the race to beat all.  He also is still into riding his 4-wheeler and makes up his own tricks by slamming on the brakes so he skids sideways.  

Chloe's enjoyed making up songs of her own and playing with her baby dolls.  It is fun to watch her in her own world, creating and pretending.  Lately instead of watching a show on TV, she prefers to watch infomercials on youtube, such as "how to play with play-doh," or the most recent favorite, "how to apply make-up."  She's very opinionated and it's hard to convince her to do anything she doesn't want to do.  But maybe that's just called being a diva.  Either way she's been busy growing up right up right before my eyes and now tells me she's not a baby but a big girl.  I'm sorry to tell you miss priss, but in my eyes, you will always be my little baby.

We've been spending so much time outside lately enjoying the spring weather that nobody wants to come inside, even to eat dinner.  Most days I realize that after dinner is cooked and cleaned up, baths are given, and prayers are said I haven't sat down until after 8:00.  I'm not complaining though, it's a beautiful thing to have a busy house full of sunshine, giggles and bouncing curls.

Snow much Snow!

We've had a quite a bit of snow the past couple of weeks here down south.  I have to say I've really enjoyed every single minute of it, even if it has resulted in a few extra minutes added to our school day and a few holidays we've lost from now until the rest of the year.  While we've had our fair share of stir-crazy moments stuck inside the house I'd like to think we've made the best of it with mornings of snow cream, hot chocolate - and afternoons filled with snowflake sugar cookies and crafts.

Chloe enjoyed the first small batch of snow we had last week and "ice skating" around in our backyard, but after that she was quickly over it and it was too cold for her.  She prefers staying inside, drinking hot chocolate and snuggling up on the couch.  Yates, however, loves the snow and can't get enough snow cream, snowmen  or snowball fights.  He runs and giggles and tramples around in the snow tickled at the sight of his own footprints.  The sight of him so happy makes me even happier.

It's going to be hard to go back to reality once springtime really does come... but then again we will just have more to celebrate with our vegetable garden, flowers blooming and picnics outside at the park.  Until then we will spend a few extra minutes snuggled up to stay warm in the bed and eat a few extra cookies because after all, it's nice to slow down every once in a while and be snowed in with my most favorite people.

Choo - Choo Yates is Two!

// Choo - Choo, Yates is Two! //

This little man is two.

He is the sweetest, most tenderhearted, stubborn but yet loving boy in the world.  He's the coolest kid ever, and such a typical boy who would rather be outside making motorcycle sounds, playing with rocks and riding his 4-wheeler than anywhere else.  He loves his big sister, and to follow her around - but he is a leader as well and holds his own easily.  He'a got a cool, calm and collected demeanor about him and I have to say he does remind me so much of myself.

Lately he's been stuffing his face with pancakes, sausage, lollipops and strawberries - which he cannot get enough of.  He's putting together words to phrases, and even sentences which is so much fun to hear.  The best part is when he agrees with you.  He never says "yes," because he's too cool for that, obviously.  "Yes" is stated by a grunt as if to say, "um yea, that's it, you got it."  If you ask him the mornings of preschool if he's ready to go to he clearly says "no," and then replies with "home." If you ask him "why" it's because he wants to play with Papa, because Papa comes over about once a week and Yates loves, loves, loves his Papa.  He also loves everything orange- orange lollipops, orange cars, orange legos, orange crayons, orange popsicles.  And he has to have two of everything, two poptarts, two cups, two trains...  two means more than one and that makes anything better,

My little man is growing up.  And while I remember when he was a little baby boy like yesterday, I also am so proud of the big boy he is growing up to be. So much like his Mama, yet so much like his Dada.

// 37 weeks, 2 days before Yates was born //

Each one of my children were born at 38 weeks.  My water broke with both, which is extremely rare so I'd like to think they came into this world a bit unique.  My epidural didn't work well with either one, but especially with Yates, and I remember being in quite a bit of pain.  He came pretty quick into this world and knew he was ready... he knew what he wanted, which fits his (and Dada's) personality.

Fast and furious.  And precious... really, really precious.

// 1 day old, and completely perfect in each and every way //

// A wild 1 year old //

On his first birthday he wouldn't have anything to do with his cake.  He's a texture type of eater and didn't understand why the cake was spongy.  He now loves cake, but loves icing even more (again, just like his Mama).  I can't wait for him to taste the train cake Mama has made him this year!

We love you to the moon and back baby boy, and so much farther... much, much farther.

// xoxo //

Addicted to Love

Sometimes I wonder (worry) if I need my kids more than they need me.  I am that mother who goes in for a head sniff every once in a while (okay maybe two or three times) when they are napping just because I need an extra fill.  They both sleep in our bed most nights now, and while hubby sometimes complains of not sleeping well, I don't mind it- not one bit and worry about the time when they sleep in their own beds, in their own rooms, and we have our nights apart.

I have really rough and tough moments too just like every other mother of losing my patience and wanting to pull my hair out because having two toddlers is no joke.  But I blame the fact that I am so needy of their attention because I am a working mother and I can't help but envy those who get more time with their children- because if I am honest, early mornings and late afternoons aren't enough for me.  Chloe has so much to say now, and we have elaborate conversations about how much she likes the color pink and unicorns.  Yates is starting to learn his colors, Chloe is starting to learn her letters and I desperately want to have the time to teach them these things, to have some say in their learning and creating their own character.  To think I only have two more years with Chloe and three more with Yates before they go to kindergarten scares me, and I want to bubble wrap them and keep them tucked away in my arms forever and ever.

The fact of the matter is my family isn't just important to me, it's my everything.  I am so fortunate to have a husband who feels the same way I do, who is addicted to our children as much as I am and who shares my same feelings about the importance of our time together as a family.  I have never felt so complete as I do now with the four (five, including our first-born, bulldog Coach) of us, and for that I am extremely grateful.