Toddler Talk Tuesday

This week was a Toddler Talk Tuesday FAIL! This week I failed for two reasons. Reason number one, I was completely thrown off by the holiday weekend. That almost never happens to me but today it did. Reason number two, my toddler learned to talk back. I have been crazy busy trying to break this horrible habit. Talking back, mean words and just naughtiness. That is probably what I will be talking about next week.

Anyway, that is why my post consists of one paragraph and you are all having to link up a day late. Sorry everyone.

What are you battling this week? How do you handle it?

How this works:

Simply link up your posts talking about your toddler. It can be anything really; crafts, games, trips, suggestions on toys, tips or just fun stories. We simply are going to talk about our toddlers and experiences being parents of toddlers. {multiple links to different posts are fine}
Grab the button in my sidebar and link back here. Help spread the word about Toddler Talk
It's as simple as that.
{The first 4 weeks will be a trial period to see how this goes. Be sure to link up so we can keep this going}

Recipe: French Toast Cupcakes

This year for Christmas, we had a birthday party for Jesus. Since I wanted the kids to celebrate Christ's birth before opening gifts, I needed a creative way to make a birthday cake that I didn't feel guilty about giving my kids at 8am. Sooo, we had French Toast Cupcakes with a Maple Buttercream topped off with a bacon garnish.

It was amazing. I was thinking about making these bad boys for breakfast today and mentioned it on twitter. Of course, these babies got lots of attention and the recipe was demanded. Okay, I lie, my friends asked nicely. Demanded just sounded better.

It was a rough morning so I didn't get around to making them. I wanted to share the recipe with you all anyways. Since I didn't make them today, no pictures. Enjoy everyone!

For the Cupcakes:

Ingredients-
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 eggs, room temperature
1 tsp. maple extract
1/2 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350° degrees. Line cupcake pan with baking liners.

Combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a mixing bowl. Whisk together butter, sugar, and eggs. Add maple extract. Alternate between mixing in flour mixture and milk into liquid mixture. Make three additions of flour and two of milk. Beat until smooth.

Pour into your cupcake liners and bake 20-25 minutes until golden brown. Cool cupcakes completely before frosting.

For the Maple Cream Cheese Frosting-

Ingredients-
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
Pinch of salt
1 tsp maple syrup
4 1/2 cups confectioners sugar, sifted
4 slices bacon, cooked

Beat together cream cheese, butter and salt until creamy. Add maple syrup. With mixer on low, add sugar 1/2 cup at a time until light and fluffy. Increase mixer speed between additions. Frost cupcakes. Cut cooked bacon into 1 inch pieces and garnish cupcakes.

**I bake my bacon for the this recipe in order to make it a little more crispy. Better for presentation.

Disney Day

This past Sunday was a mother-daughter Disneyland Day. I know when I say that the mind first takes you to a day with my 2 year old and I. This is not the case, not this week. My mom and I were long overdue for some time with just the two of us.

We started the day off with Starbucks. Perfect beginning, right? It only gets better from there. We hung out at Disneyland for about 3 hours. Had a blast. Picked up some souvenirs for my kids. You know, because we aren't at Disneyland every week. Spoiled they are... whatevs.

We took a short break so I could nurse Talon and then headed right back.

We had an early dinner at Rainforest Cafe and went back into the park. We had ice cream for dessert and goofed of like little kids. It is the happiest place on earth, ya know!

We finished off the night watching A World of Color, which is AMAZING by the way.
**Let me give you some input though, when you ask the lady how wet they mean by "Wet zone" and she says "It is just a mist from the water", ignore her, she lies!** We left there soaked. I happen to be one of those weird people who love to sit in the soak zone. You know, even though I flinch, jump and occasionally complain about how drenched I am. My mom on the other hand says she will never ever in her life stand that close. We will see.

Any how, it was a blast. Enjoy the cell phone pics from the day. Isn't my mom hawt?

Toddler Talk Tuesday

Once upon a time, no very long ago, there was a little girl who would eat anything her mama put on her plate. What happened to this little girl? The world may never know. Her mama thinks it has a little something to do with those evil terrible twos and he onset of strong will.

Because my daughter has become so picky, I have started having to trick her into eating things. A couple months ago I heard someone say to simply make their food fun. I thought for this weeks toddler talk I would share one of our favorites with you. Jellyfish. Not actual jellyfish. These are of the Chicken or Turkey dog origin. Super easy and FUN!

Ingredients:
Hot Dogs of your choice, Rhi prefers chicken.
Spaghetti noodles
Tomato Sauce (I was out of spaghetti sauce today so we used pizza)



Step 1: Cut your hotdogs to create the Jelly fish tops. I cut mine a about 1 in



Step 2: Break noodles in half and insert into Jellyfish tops



Step 3: Boil until noodles are cooked and strain.
Note: Noodles inside of dogs remain a little on the crunchy side.



Step 4: Top with a little bit of heated sauce.



Enjoy!

How this works:

Simply link up your posts talking about your toddler. It can be anything really; crafts, games, trips, suggestions on toys, tips or just fun stories. We simply are going to talk about our toddlers and experiences being parents of toddlers. {multiple links to different posts are fine}
Grab the button in my sidebar and link back here. Help spread the word about Toddler Talk
It's as simple as that.
{The first 4 weeks will be a trial period to see how this goes. Be sure to link up so we can keep this going}

Emotions Ran Wild

May 21st. Many of you will laugh as soon as you read that date. It seems like a joke to so many. Although it was so obviously false to many of us, it brought on a lot of emotions.

Like I mentioned, many thought it was hilarious. A complete joke. Others feared for their lives and those of their children. They feared the death that was coming and where their soul would go.

Some went out and blew life savings, others already had their dollars spent promoting this "cause". Some people celebrated the life they had lived and the death that was soon to come. Others went on with their days expecting nothing out of the ordinary.

For me? May 21st was filled with emotions as well. Fear, Hope and Joy.

Fear, not because I thought the world would end but because I knew it wouldn't. What would happen to those who accepted Christ because of the fear in their hearts? What would happen to those whose faith was in this Judgement Day? What about the people who still don't know Jesus? What would they think of us "Crazy Christians" now? May 20th, I could not sleep. I used my time well and prayed for all of the people who would be affected by the false prophecy. I prayed that all those who believed in this would see that their faith was placed in the hands of a man and not in our Savior. That they would be able to wake on the 22nd and begin following the one and only God. I prayed that both, the believing and unbelieving, would see that although this was not the day, that it IS coming. We will one day face God.

I woke up on Saturday, full of hope. Hope for a hurting world. Hope that Jesus would be revealed, not by a rapture but by His people. All day I was hopeful that each of us would grow a little closer to Jesus through the knowledge that one day He will come. Not on a day that we have designated for Him but when God decides. Matthew24: 35-37 says "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man." He will come and we need to be ready.

Of all the emotions brought on by May 21st, the strongest for me was Joy. I know this sounds absurd. How could a false prophecy and fear in the hearts of so many bring joy in my life? Hear me out.

I believe in Jesus. I know who He is. I know what He did for me. I know where I am going. When the world passes away, I know that I will live with Him, forever. That, my friends, brings tremendous joy. Praying for so many on Friday night and through Saturday, although a sad sad topic, brought me so much happiness. I have a God who will listen, a father who despite the hour makes time for me. I will never fear a rapture or a judgement day. Instead I will look forward to the day I get to meet my savior face to face.

May 21st has come and gone. Nothing has changed. Can I challenge you all to make a change though? Let's live our life like Jesus is coming back today, everyday. Live our lives in a way that will make Him proud. In a way that others, who don't know Him want to know Him because they want what we have, that joy that shows even in hard times. The joy that only Jesus brings.

He is Moving

A couple weeks ago, I shared over at RagstoStitches. She is doing great series on how God is moving. It is her {Be Ready, Be Prepared, Be Molded} series. I wanted to share with those of you who didn't make it over there for my post. If you like what I share, or even if you don't, you should head over there and read what others are saying.

"The holy spirit doesn't move like it used to"

"We don't see healings anymore"

"God couldn't use me"

We hear things like this all the time. Luckily, all of these statements are false. I know they are false because my life itself is a testimony to the exact opposite of all three statements.

I have heard the Holy Spirit speak and have been overwhelmed by the presence of His spirit. I have been healed. And little ol me has been used for the good of God.

I never thought I was worthy of any of this. I grew up having no relationship and definitely was not worthy of even walking in God's presence. But to Him, none of that mattered. God has a plan for my life and although I have no clue where He plans to take me, I know I will be used tremendously.

It all started on an altar where I laid weeping and gave my life to the Lord. I was moved by the Holy Spirit that night in a way I can't describe. He is still present.

Only a few short months later my husband, boyfriend at the time, felt a tug on his heart and told me I needed to be prayed over.

You see, for years I had issues with my heart. I had seen a few cardiologists who had diagnosed numerous small problems with my heart but they could not find the root of it all. All we knew is that my ECG's looked like one of a brittle old woman. At 19, this was terrifying.

So, we prayed. Nothing profound seemed to happen. Light did not shine down from the heavens. The earth did not shake. But the next day, in complete faith, I walked into my cardiologist's office and demanded an ECG. To everyone's surprise, except my own, the ECG came back clean. They ran it again and passed it on to other cardiologists. No one could explain it. I knew I was healed. I let them know I was healed. It is a lie that God is not still moving and healing. I have the ECG to prove it.

Until I was 19, I did not walk with God. I never really thought I would. But here I am; a living testimony of His grace and mercy.

So what do we do with the false statements? The false beliefs that I started off with? We prove them wrong. We continue to walk with Him, let Him cover us in truth and we share our story.

God is good. He is here and He is moving.

Toddler Talk Tuesday

I am so excited to share with you this week. We are potty training! Last week I began the whole process. Sort of. You see my little one has been, on occasion, going "poo poo" on the big girl potty. Since she has done fairly well with that, I thought this whole potty training thing would be a breeze. So overcomplicated by all the other momma's out there. Go ahead, point your fingers and laugh at me now. This is tough!

So away with the thought of just having Rhi go potty when she tells me. Away with the wet diapers because Rhi NEVER tells me. I've got my timers set, the M&M's in the bathroom, the training panties and waterproof covers are on. I have designated the front bathroom or guest bathroom as Rhi's.

The part I am excited about is a little printable I whipped up and want to share with you. "The Potty Challenge". I originally just made one for Rhi and thought some of you might want it. So, I took out her name and erased the rewards we have set for her so you can enter your own. Here is Rhi's:


A simple board game concept. She places a sticker in a box for everyday that she goes with no accidents. When she reaches one of the milestones, she gets the prize we have designated for her. Golden Spoon, a new toy, a trip to Chucke-E-Cheese, a day at Disneyland with just mommy (no baby bro), and finally a pizza party!

She is super excited about all of this. As for right now though, she isn't making it without accidents, so we just put up a little paper by the toilet that says Pee and Poop, she gets to place a sticker in the right section each time she goes. Just a simple little way to encourage her. That and the M&M's.

If you are interested in the Potty Challenge printable for your own little one, here is the blank version. Enjoy.

{Download}

What is happening with your toddlers this week? Link up and let us know.

How this works:

Simply link up your posts talking about your toddler. It can be anything really; crafts, games, trips, suggestions on toys, tips or just fun stories. We simply are going to talk about our toddlers and experiences being parents of toddlers. {multiple links to different posts are fine}
Grab the button in my sidebar and link back here. Help spread the word about Toddler Talk
It's as simple as that.
{The first 4 weeks will be a trial period to see how this goes. Be sure to link up so we can keep this going}