I'm such a Brainiac!

Hayden has been attending her little Private Montessori preschool now, for almost two years. She has learned so much and I am thinking of letting her stay there for Kindergarten. She still has one more year of Pre-K before Kinder, but she is already surpassing the Pre-K standards. I give all this credit to her wonderful school, well, and to me! teehee!

Back to my 'Smart' moment.

Hayden's school is housed in a church that is selling their building due to low member numbers. If her school does not find another building, they will be forced to close permanently.

I have been in contact with her director trying to give ideas on where they could move to. She expressed her issues with the codes that they had to follow being an all day school. Such as a sprinkler system etc. I listened and still the wheels in my mind were turning. Two weeks later I was picking Hayden up and had a friend from work with me in the car, she asked, "why is it so hard for them to find a building?", I replied, " some silly code about a sprinkler system, I mean, who really cares if they have green grass or not". My friend began to laugh hysterically and could not talk from her chuckles...she began to point to the roof. It then dawned on me...it wasn't a sprinkler system it was a FIRE sprinkler system they needed. LOL! I felt sooo stupid! But it was soo funny, and I am still laughing at my MOMENT of pure Smartness!

I have been distraught over this. I have no idea where I would send her that would give her the education she is getting now. I am also sad for their legacy, they have been in business for 33 years. It is just an awesome school. I have looked into other places that in my opinion are close to the same in their educational expectations, and my tuition rate would increase by $5oo! Which is worth it, if her school doesn't not find another building. Right now, there is a good lead on a building and I pray that all works out!!

Bon Appetite!

David and I watch a lot of the food network shows. One of our recent shows to TiVo is America's Worst Cooks. I think I should apply to be on the show. David has a lot of culinary background and actually attended culinary school for a little bit. I cannot however, seem to cut or saute anything without his help. However, today I decided to surprise my hubby with a dish that we say on our new show this past week. Here it is. It was actually pretty simple and he LOVED it! SCORE!

Sweet Potato hash

Roasted Chicken with a sweet glaze...

Here is the recipe in case anyone wants it... i left out the onions, and shallots as well as the pumpkin seeds. He still loved and this quite possibly could be his new favorite dish of mine! Yeehaw, momma did it!

Ingredients:
2 (3-pound) chickens, wing tips, spine and breast plate removed, cut in 1/2
Extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
1 cup real maple syrup
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Make a small hole in the extra skin on the legs and poke the end of the drumstick through to form a perfect package. Toss the chicken generously with olive oil and salt, to taste. Arrange the chicken on a sheet tray or baking dish lined with parchment or silpat. Roast the chicken until it is about 3/4 of the way done, about 20 to 25 minutes. The skin should start to brown and crisp.
While the chicken is roasting, combine the maple syrup and cayenne in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook until the syrup is reduced by about 1/2 to 3/4 or until the syrup is very thick and syrupy.

After the chicken has roasted for 20 to 25 minutes, brush each piece of chicken generously with the reduced syrup. Continue to roast for another 10 to 12 minutes, brushing the skin with the syrup 1 or 2 more times while cooking. The skin should start to become very dark and sticky. If the skin starts to get too dark, cover it loosely with aluminum foil. Transfer the chicken to a serving platter and let rest about 10 minutes before serving.

For the hash:

Ingredients:

2 garnet yams, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice
Extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
4 to 6 slices thick cut bacon, cut into lardons
1 large onion, cut in 1/2-inch dice
2 Granny Smith apples, cored and cut into 1/2-inch dice
4 scallions, white and green parts separated and thinly sliced
1/2 cup green pumpkin seeds (pepitas), toasted

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

In a large bowl, add the sweet potatoes, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, to taste. Toss to coat and arrange them on a baking sheet. Roast the sweet potatoes until they are soft but not mushy, about 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and reserve.

Coat a large saute pan with olive oil. Add the bacon and put the pan over medium heat. When the bacon has started to get crispy and brown, add the onions, season with salt and saute until the onions are very soft and aromatic. Add the apples and the scallion whites and saute for 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the sweet potatoes, and saute until the sweet potatoes are cooked through and starting to become crispy, about 7 to 8 minutes.

Transfer to a serving platter and garnish with the scallion greens and pumpkin seeds.

BON APPETITE!

Mom of the Year

what? what is that you say? Mom of the year? **blushing** me? Ahem, why yes, thank you...its an honor to be nominated this year and for it to be so soon in the year has me beaming.

Now, on a more serious note...I made POPCORN BALLS! Yeehaw~! Hayden has her class Valentine's party tomorrow and I am normally so on top of things to make sure she brings something unique and cute, however this year, momma has been kinda lacking in the motivation on the weekends. I am counting down until summer when Hayden and I can spend days in the pool, park, and whatever else we decide to do on our whim!

Ok, back to the popcorn balls! My grandmother, Maw, used to make them every year at Christmas-time and color them green, red and white. It was very festive. I tried making them years ago, pre-Hayden era. Come to find out, you are suppose to make sure there are no kernels in the bowl before you start pouring and balling them up! LOL! whoops! So this time, I sent my dashing hubby to the store for some microwavable popcorn and marshmallows. Yup, Marshmallows, this new recipe I found called for marshmallows and I thought, YUMMO! I also decided to be festive and make them more Valentine colored. So when he came home with Kettle Korn, I decided HEY WHY NOT! The sugary the better.

( Doesn't this look like a bowl full of Fatty Yumminess! )

(and this just looks like a Valentine Massacre)

Cooling!~

Let me tell you, balling these bad boys up before they cool is no easy task. THEY WERE HOT! Now, I am off to find some cute baggies to put them in and make her some awesome labels to attach. Love being her mommy!

Church today was on the book of Ruth...more to come on that later. It was very eye opening.

Snow Day #1 February 1-4

The first of the snow day of our school year was a blast! Of course I feel this way after a weekend outside and after two days of good weather. Last week I was beginning to understand how people eat their young. Being at home with Hayden is great and a time that I wouldn't trade for the world, but after the "rolling blackouts", our Uverse wouldn't come back on and we were stuck without TV....which wouldn't be so bad if we could go out and play. It was hard! We tried baking cookies, painting...finally daddy came home and rescued us and took us to dinner. Keeping an active 4 year old busy is quite a task, even for a teacher. More pics and video to come after I find more for us to do on this second week of ...duh da da duh....our SNOW DAY...EEK!

I have found a place to call HOME

The Church On Rush Creek

I have been visiting Rush Creek going on about 2.5 years.... I think. I love everything about this church. There are three services but I always insist that I have to be at the first service at 9am. I have a special place that I sit every Sunday and when I am a row off, it feels weird and I will usually end up moving to that seat that is 'just right'. I like to call this my Goldilocks method. After I take Hayden to her Sunday School class, I head to the main auditorium where I will sit by myself, that is a whole other blog in itself and I am not ready to share that yet. If I am not there before the 5 minute countdown starts on the screen, it usually puts a damper on my routine because I love to soak up everything I see going on around me. From the mingling of friends, to the regulars that sit around me, only some of which I recognize week to week. I am usually the loud one, but not at church. I keep to myself. I don't know any names, and I am embarrassingly shy when it comes to anything that causes me to speak or have a conversation with somebody. Its not that I don't want to be more involved, its that for some reason I feel inadequate. Crazy thought, I know. I once contacted the Life Groups leader but when he responded I quickly backed down and shied away. Again, I don't know why. At Rush Creek our Worship Leader, Eric, is this amazing singer who puts the choir together and they come up with the most amazing, chill bump giving, versions to new contemporary songs that get me pumped to hear God's word. That is my most FAVORITE part of the service. I love the music. The church is very contemporary and you can wear whatever attire you see fit. I have yet to dress super casual, that part is not in my bones. I did wear my nice jeans and a cute sweater, but I had to dress it up with heels, which is funny, because that again...is not ME!

My goal this year is to be more involved. I actually felt pride in taking Hayden to the Easter Egg hunt last year and felt even more pride knowing I bought a package of the filled eggs and donated them! Which makes me laugh out loud at myself. I would like to make it official and "JOIN" the Rush Creek Family, however, I want to join and not go through the whole announce me on the stage thing. Wonder if that is possible? Go take a look and listen, rushcreek.org, you can listen online, but its a bummer that the music part isn't on there...one of the other things I love about Rush creek is after the offering, and after the first chorus of the lead out song, Pastor Russ says, "Have a good day, see you next week". I love that...it's like , yes, yes you will see me next week. I will keep coming back for more because this place feeds my soul! Thank you Rush Creek, for EVERYTHING you have given me!

Repent, Restore, Renew

I have been meaning to blog for sometime now. Finding the time seems impossible these days, and figuring out what to blog about is just as tedious. I figure who really cares what I have to say...but I will tell you anyway.

In the spirit of a new season in my life I am challenging myself to a change: Repentance of my sin, Restored Faith, and a Renewed Spirit! About 8 months ago an underlying , selfish but whole desire breathed within me , and I began to pray. Praying so deeply for another being charged a voltage of faith within myself that I always knew was there I just didn't know how to find it. As my journey trudged through turmoil and confusion, God showed me something. He showed me that he will always be there to pick up my pieces when I have fallen apart. He led me to a place where I realized I needed to fully rely on him for all of my needs and desires. He guided me to a path of righteousness that I could only find through him, and he showed me what my true desire was. In the bible it says that God will provide the true desires of our heart. How are we to really know what that desire is until we have prayed for the desire that God wants us to have? As my spirit changes I am sure my blog posts will too...Hop on a pray with me! Repent, Restore & Renew!

Although my blogs may sway from randomness, to complete bragging on my child..I will try and be better about blogging..encourage me to continue blogging by showing me that I am not the only one who reads it!

Remembering 9/11

I am forwarding you guys to a friend's blog. She so eloquently wrote a blog about this horrendous day. Please go to her site and read...

www.ashley-starkstories.blogspot.com