Girlymama

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Jillian Michaels’ Event

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Role Mommy TV Interview

One of my kids was throwing a fit in public. I was furiously whispering to her "Stop that. Now." Threatening "you just wait until we get home" and "that's enough." Then it came out.
"You're embarrassing me!"

My main concern was not where her heart is or the disobedience I was seeing there.  I was more worried about how I look in front of all these other parents. I was totally embarrassed by her behavior. And that's why I wanted her to stop.

It was a startling reminder that my concern with my children should not their outward behavior. It should be about their hearts. Its not about having quiet, well-mannered, cute children. It is about my calling as a mother to teach, rebuke, correct and train them in righteousness. (2 Tim 3:16) To remember that all behaviors are linked to the heart and "out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks." (Luke 6:45) I cannot allow my desire for good behavior overrule my desire for a changed heart. I need to "bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord." (Eph 6:4) 

Focus, Mom. You only get one shot at this.

I began this blog as a way to keep in touch with family and friends. Its become a journal of sorts, chronicling our daily adventures of life with three small kids.  And my quest for honesty and transparency leads to posts like this one when I joke (sort of) about selling my kids or this one where I'm simply overwhelmed. This blog is filled with posts about my frustrations, struggles and mistakes I make daily as I navigate motherhood. Just yesterday I shared about bursting into tears in public after a particularly exhausting day. Nice.

But last night, I'm sitting in the rocking chair in the dim light of the nightlight with my baby boy in my lap. He's sucking his finger on his right hand and holding with my hand left, lacing his tiny fingers through mine. I'm rocking gently and singing him lullabies. I bend my head and place a kiss on his head, breathing in his freshly-bathed, baby shampoo scent. He snuggles closer to me and looks up. He smiles, places his hand on my cheek and softly sighs, "Mama."

I gaze into his eyes. I can hear the soft voices of his sisters playing in the next room and see my husband sitting in the living room reading. And I can hardly breathe. My heart is so full. I'm overwhelmed.

And I'm reminded that its worth it. All of it. Totally worth it.

Exhausted.
Stressed out.
Overwhelmed.
PMS-y.
Cranky, tired kids.
Exhausted. Exhausted. Exhausted.

You're walking through the grocery store at 8 o'clock at night, because you are out of bread, milk, eggs and bananas again…

And then you realize you're actually crying. Right there in the middle of the grocery store. For no reason in particular.

That's when I learned that some days you need to just to go to bed. And try again tomorrow. What did you learn this week?

This chicken makes frequent appearances at our dinner table.  And I purposely make leftovers to put in salads for lunch!

Garlic-Thyme Chicken

3 tbsp olive oil
6 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
3 tbsp fresh thyme leaves, chopped
1-2 lbs chicken breasts, sliced in half lengthwise

Whisk ingredients together, adding coarse salt & pepper to taste. Pour over chicken breasts and marinate for at least two hours or overnight.

Grill chicken in grill pan (3-4 minutes a side) and garnish with thyme springs, if desired. Serve with roasted baby potatoes and roasted asparagus! Yum!

(This is long with all these pictures, but its worth it! Promise!!)

Yesterday, we had the most amazing day. We went to New York City and, thanks to Mom Trends and Season of Savings, we got to see Mary Poppins on Broadway! (If you've never checked out Season of Savings, they have amazing deals – like up to 60% off deals.) Mom Trends hosted a giveaway and I won 2 tickets to Mary Poppins and a $100 gift card to Tony's di Napoli! We picked up two extra tickets (So cheap!! Seriously, check them out!) and treated the girls to a day in NYC!!

We took the train out, which the girls loved!


We immediately ran into a celebrity (Mark Hoppus from Blink-182!) outside Madison Square Garden. Then we walked up 5th Avenue and ran into a parade. So we ate a traditional NYC lunch (hot dogs from a street vendor) while we watch the parade and window shopped. Because 5th Avenue is probably the best place to window shop in the entire world (drool….)

Saw some classic NYC landmarks:

Then we took the kids to one of the coolest places kids can go – FAO Schwarz!

Then the girls enjoyed their first cab ride, which brought us through Central Park. We almost got into an accident with another cab – a true NYC experience, right?

Dinner at Tony's Di Napoli was fantastic. Not only can the location not be beat (right in Times Square, two blocks from the theater) but the food was totally amazing. Perfect for dining with kids or a big group. We had the house salad, spaghetti with marinara and Tony's specialty, meatballs and sausage. It was sooo yummy – they girls chowed down like they hadn't eaten in weeks – and the portion sizes were ridiculous. We ended the meal with a hot fudge brownie sundae that the girls' declared was "The BEST dessert EVER!!"

Then came the highlight of the day. We headed over to the New Amsterdam Theater and saw Mary Poppins. It was… incredible. Fantastic. Phenomenal. My girls' mouths were hanging open in amazement.  We've been dying to take the girls to see Mary Poppins since we first heard about it and we were NOT disappointed. We loved, loved, LOVED it. Oh, I wish I could show you a picture of Gracie's face when Mary Poppins FLEW over us in the audience. Priceless.
 

Thank you Mom Trends, Season of Savings & Tony's Di Napoli for a day we won't forget!! (Seriously, Ellie wants to move to New York City.) I want to go back! Anyone want to see The Lion King?

Can you guess where we spent the day yesterday? I'll write all about it after the dust settles over here and I have a little more coffee since we got home at 1am. Promise!

lots of time watching this:

hours and hours organizing my kids clothes, sorting through sizes and seasons, and tagging the ones i'm going to sell in a consignment sale today. i took pictures to prove that – for at least until 3:00 when they got home from school – the girls' room was actually clean.
 

of course the biggest thing that happened this week was gracie losing two teeth! (she swallowed one. i'll let you just imagine the drama on your own. i guarantee you that it was more dramatic and louder than you imagined.)

this is how you know you need more sleep:

do you see the tag? in the front of my shirt? as in my shirt was on INSIDE OUT AND BACKWARDS for an entire morning without my noticing?
and, yes, i did leave the house like that.

***The giveaway portion of the carnival is now closed! Thanks for playing along! Congrats to Tara from Itty Bitty Bookworms who won the autographed Paula Deen cookbook! See you all again next month!***

Welcome to the  monthly "Try This: Spice Up Your Kitchen" carnival! This month's theme is COMFORT FOODS. One of my very favorite things about when the temperature drops is breaking out all the comfort food: chili, homemade chicken soup, my mom's meatballs, grandma's apple pie… Seriously, along with sweaters and boots, isn't that one of the best things about fall?

Today I invite you to share your family's favorite 'comfort food' recipe with us. We have several, so it was hard to narrow it down. But I chose a recipe that my husband and I both totally love. I could eat this for days! The first time I tried this recipe (which was in the church cookbook) my husband took his first bite, closed his eyes and said, "My mom used to make this when I was a kid!!"  What's more comforting than that?

Honey Baked Chicken

4 chicken breasts
1/3 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup honey
2 tablespoons yellow mustard
1 tablespoon curry powder (less if your kids are timid)

Place the chicken in a baking dish, sprayed with Pam. Mix all remaining ingredients and pour over chicken. Bake at 350 degrees, basting occasionally, until chicken is cooked through. Serve over  rice.

Now this month's carnival is a little special. I am giving away an AUTOGRAPHED copy of Paula Deen's classic The Lady and Sons Cookbook! (Did you miss how I got an autographed copy? Click here!)

Here are the rules:
1. Contest ends Saturday, October 3.
2. Entry #1: Submit a recipe to the carnival. (It can be an old post on your blog – just remember to link to the specific post, not your whole blog please.)
3. Entry #2: Leave a comment telling me what your very, very favorite comfort food is.
4. Entry #3:  Leave a SEPARATE comment telling me in what way you promoted this contest (i.e., posting about it on your blog, Tweeting about it, emailing  friends, and/or subscribe to my feed by email or in a reader).
5. Winner will be selected by Random.org, announced back here on this post, and notified via email with further instructions.

I hope you all have a great time looking through all the recipes today
– I cannot WAIT to find some new recipes!! And remember: when you add your post to the Mr. Linky, please link to your specific post – not your general blog URL.
Here's how to play, if you have questions.