It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like…

 

Gotham City????

As much as I’d love to be trimming a tree, putting out garlands, and red and green galore like most of you, I have a bigger task at hand.

My son turns 5 on Saturday.

I have to tell you that I’m having a bit of a hard time with it. I just can’t believe that my baby is going to be 5. It’s a pivotal year and I’m not quite sure I’m ready for that.

Things change when one turns 5…I will no longer have a baby, and that kinda makes me sad {but not enough to have another}.

Whether I like it or not, he’s turning 5 and I must prepare for a Super Duper Super-Hero party for my little super hero.

So, I am burying myself in party decorations and details…because you know for me it’s all about the details.

Sometimes I wonder why I worry about silly little things like water bottle labels and backdrops, and the perfect decorations….it’s a kid’s party for goodness sake. But, I must have in engrained in me. My parents always threw the best parties for my brother and myself, and I like to do it for my kids as well. It’s my thing I guess.

Anyway, my Silhouette and I have been spending a lot of time together {and I think my husband’s starting to get a little jealous}.

To date, the capes and banners have been made. There’s so much more to finish, so I must get busy.

I can’t wait to show y’all how it all turns out on Saturday {and I’m sure by then I’ll be a crazy person. Ha!}

Dressing Vs. Stuffing {A Thanksgiving Tradition}

Growing up in the South we always had dressing at Thanksgiving. It wasn’t until I met my husband that I even realized there was anything else served with mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, and green bean casserole along side that yummy, delicious turkey.

One of our first Thanksgivings together when we were discussing the menu he asked for stuffing. I looked at him like he had 2 heads and was very perplexed {which as Fancy Nancy likes to say, “That is a fancy word for confused.}

“Stuffing? What in the world is stuffing?”

He proceeded to explain the idea of stuffing to me. There was some crazy talk about this stuff that’s a side dish and is stuffed inside the turkey before being cooked. “WHAT?!” After a lot of explanation, I replied “Oh, you mean dressing.”

Well, you can imagine the conversation that ensued…we went round and round about dressing vs. stuffing.

So, let’s dissect the idea for a minute.

In doing some research for this I ran across this great article from Realmanscookbook.com. I think he gave a very classy argument as to the difference between the two subjects at hand.

He states:

Truth is there is no difference in the ingredients; the difference is in the preparation. Stuffing to be stuffing must, in effect, be stuffed, crammed, rammed, shoved, squeezed or even coaxed into the cavity of a bird or at least between two halves of the same hunk of meat. The reason for calling it stuffing is as obvious as the reason cramming a basketball through the hoop at close range is called stuffing. Technically, if there is not a certain amount of grunting and arm flexing during this procedure, it is not stuffing.

Dressing, on the other hand, is like a three point jumper. It's a graceful arc straight from the pan and onto the plate. It is all net, no need to even touch the rim or the backboard. Grunting, however, is permissible.

So there you have it, y’all. The main difference is mostly in the preparation.

As for ingredients, it’s true there’s not too much difference, but there definitely are differences.

Dressing is mainly made from homemade, from scratch cornbread {hence the name, Cornbread Dressing}. My Mama usually adds some left over biscuits too.

Dressing also contains fresh vegetables and some spices. I always knew my Mama was making dressing when I could smell the onions and celery being “cooked down” in a little water to soften them up. You see, Dressing is a soft dish and no where should there be a crunch. Mama would chop up the celery and onions and cook ‘em down just enough to make ‘em soft but yet add that powerful punch of flavor.

A few spices are always added, and then there’s that secret ingredient my mama always adds…hard boiled egg.

Now my husband cannot wrap his mind around this idea…can’t even fathom it, but I tell you it’s so delicious. Bless his heart, he doesn’t even know what he’s missing!

I digress…

Once all the ingredients are mixed together, add a little chicken broth to moisten it up, pop it in the oven and bake it in a dish..not the cavity of some bird.

As for Stuffing, it is usually held together by old, stale, and sometimes petrified bread crumbs. And from what I’ve learned, most people who make stuffing use some kind of “pre-made” or from the box stuff. The vegetables are dried as well unless you want to add some fresh as well.

I have to say, I’ve tried both. I grew up on and look forward to my Mama’s dressing every year. I’m not a huge fan of stuffing, but that’s me.

We all have our traditions of Thanksgiving whether it comes in a pan or stuffed in the cavity of the carcass of the bird we are about to eat.

Happy Thanksgiving to all you turkeys out there. I hope y’all have a safe and happy holiday with your friends and family. Remember to eat and enjoy every bite of that dressing. And if you prefer stuffing…well, I won’t hold it against you. Ha!

If you are a newbie to the south and would like to try this stuff we down here call “dressing” here’s the closest recipe I could find to my Mama’s…

Original recipe makes 6 servings

• 1 (12 ounce) package refrigerated biscuit dough

• 1 (8 ounce) package corn bread mix

• 1 cup diced onion

• 1 cup diced celery

• 1/2 cup butter, softened

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

• 2 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth

• 2 hard-cooked eggs

• 1 teaspoon dried sage(optional) {I usually use poultry seasoning and not sage – or maybe a tiny bit}

Check All Add to Shopping List

Directions

1. Prepare biscuits (enough to make 4 cups crumbled), and one 8x8 inch pan cornbread according to package directions. Cool and crumble.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
3. In a small pot, combine onion, celery, margarine and chicken broth. Bring to boil and cook vegetables until tender.
4. In a 2-quart casserole dish, combine 4 cups crumbled cornbread, 4 cups biscuit crumbs, salt, pepper, chopped eggs and sage. Pour broth and vegetables over bread mixture, and stir until combined.
5. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 45 minutes

{SOURCE}

Ribbon Trimmed Curtains

I’m so excited to share the recent curtains I made embellished for Dallas’ new room.

I’ve been a busy bee the past couple of weeks, painting, sewing, and putting my sweet Dallas’ room back together.

If you remember back a week or so ago, I bought a desk for Dallas. But, in my style I couldn’t just stick the desk in her room and call it a day. Oh no, a whole room makeover was necessary because of this desk.

She picked her favorite fabric scheme,

and I then painted her room lavender.

When it came to curtains, I was originally going to make ruffle curtains, but decided to go in a different direction when the fabric was going to cost $75. I did not want to spend that much so on to Plan B.

I went to Target to take a look-see to see what they had. I came across these Plain Jane white curtains…

I knew I could add some ribbon and spruce these guys up.

At JoAnn’s I found this perfect ribbon to use.

The color was perfect only problem…they did not have enough in stock…Plan B {again}.

These would work.

I laid out one curtain panel and pinned down the green ribbon. I used the seam along the edge of the ribbon to line up the ribbon.

Then I sewed it down. When it came to the rod pocket, I stopped at the bottom of the pocket and then sewed down just the top part of the ribbon at the top of the pocket.

When the green ribbon was sewed on, I laid the curtain panel back out, pinned down the turquoise ribbon, and sewed it down.

This is what the rod pocket looked like.

When they were both finished, it was time to hang…

Dallas picked out the curtain rod. I think it worked perfectly for her.

I love how they turned out!!!

It really brings a little extra pop of color to her room.

Adding a little ribbon is such an easy way to embellish plain curtains to make them a little more special.

Happy Sunday, y’all!!!

See ya soon! ~S

Garlic Cheddar Biscuits

 

2 cups Bisquick

2/3 cup milk

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1-2 tsp. minced garlic {depending on how garlic-y you want them}

1/4 cup butter, melted

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

In a bowl mix all ingredients until dough forms.

Spray and muffin pan with Pam. Spoon dough into 9 of the muffin cups.

{I like to fill the plain cups half way with water so they won’t burn}

Bake for 10-12 minutes until done.

**Now, you don’t have to mix the butter into the mix. You can leave that part out and then brush each biscuit with the butter when they’re finished baking…it’s up to you.

Let’s Talk Cake…

Well, if you don’t know I am in full birthday party mode. So what does that mean?

Let’s see: a theme has been picked, invitations have been ordered, countless hours of Pinteresting and blog searching have been done, the sleepless nights have begun, and now it’s time to put this party into motion.

My son turns 5 in less than 3 weeks. Aaahhh! Let’s not harp on the fact that my baby will be 5 because I’m sure I will just start bawling at the thought. I just can’t believe it.

So, I do what I do best, I burry myself in party details.  We know that it’s ALL about the details, and I am a sucker for them.

After a theme is picked and invitations are ordered, the next thing that must be done is order a cake…or at least decide what kind of cake you will have.

So today I want to take a look down memory lane or the evolution of the Lentz household birthday cakes.

We have come a long way from Dallas’ first birthday cake. Let’s take a look, shall we?

Cute right?

This cake was just a “store bought” cake from Publix {oh how I miss Publix}. It fit her theme of butterflies and flowers. And we even got a smash cake to match.

For her second birthday, I had a newborn and was a little sleep deprived. I made her cake this year.

I know, not that great, but remember I was sleep deprived and had a newborn.

We did have a few of her friends over for a birthday playdate, but I just served store bought mini cupcakes.

That year came to an end and Hunter turned 1. We had a monkey themed party and once again I had a store bought cake {this time from Target}.

For Dallas’ 3rd birthday we had an ice cream party for her. We had to have some sort of cake for her candles, so I made cupcakes with pink and purple polka dots.

Hunter turned 2 and we settled on a football theme. I found a football shaped cake pan and thought…how hard could this be?

Not the prettiest, but it served the purpose.

After this party, things forever changed. I found a cake person. We worked together on the neighborhood’s moms group. When she said she made cakes, I thought, “Well, I’ll give her a try.”

I asked her to make Dallas’ cake for her 4th birthday…a Candy Shop Party.

Let me tell you that she set the bar high when she made this cake!

I mean how gawgeous is that?

The lollipops and gumballs at the bottom of the layers were bought, but everything else was made.

And let me tell you that not only are her cakes beautiful, they are just as yummy to eat. She makes the best homemade filling from banana butter cream to Butterfinger – those are our family’s favorites.

So like I said the bar was set high, and then Hunter turned 3. He was really into pirates and that is the party we had.

I turned to my cake friend, and she did not let me down.

I mean, look at that thing. It seriously brought tears to my eyes when I saw it for the first time. It took two of us to carry it.

We had a scavenger hunt with the kids to find it. When they did, they thought it was a real treasure chest and tried to “open” it to get the goodies out.

I seriously did not want to cut this cake…it was just too gorgeous.

For Dallas’ 5th birthday she wanted a Fancy Nancy Party. Tara made a fancy cake for an extra fancy girl.

Baseball was the theme for Hunter’s 4th birthday and the cake was another homerun!

When Dallas turned 6, we decided to take her to NYC to the American Girl Store. We didn’t have a big ‘to-do” party so I didn’t get a big birthday cake. I made her strawberry cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.

They definitely don’t hold a candle to Tara’s spectacular {that’s a fancy word for awesome} cakes, but I was kinda proud of my cake toppers I made.

So we come to a close of our walk down memory lane of birthday cakes.

As Hunter turns 5 soon, I turn back to the cake expert. I am so excited and cannot wait to see what she comes up with for our Super hero birthday party for my little Super hero!

**Tara from Babyshine is the creator of these marvelous cakes. SOURCE

The Outcome

The phones have stopped ringing and the political commercials have ceased.

The election has come and gone, and once again America has spoken.

Do I like the outcome?

Not so much.

In fact, this morning I felt defeated. I felt like I was beaten down. I felt sick to my stomach. Now, I will admit that part of that is probably due to the fact that I H.A.T.E to lose. I’m not good at losing and it never feels good.

I moped around the house, got extra coffee to help perk me up.

I wondered…Why? How?

I prayed…Why? How?

I thought…It’s just not fair!

Then it hit me…we don’t know the answers. Only God knows the answers. He always tells us that we may not like the outcome of something. But we are not supposed to question Him. There is a reason for everything.

I also remembered lessons my parents taught me when I was growing up. Life isn’t always fair. But we gotta suck it up and keep moving on. So, I did what my mama always taught me, I put my big girl panties on, lifted my head, put a smile on my face, sucked in my belly {ok, that’s just to make me look thinner}, and faced the facts.

I have a good life, great friends, and a wonderful family. I live in a wonderful country. And I am proud to be an American.

So, no I may not have liked the outcome, but I have accepted it. I think it is important for us as Americans to realize that we may not like the outcome of elections, but the fact is we all have a choice and a voice.

That’s what so great about being an American. WE are still the land of the free and the home of the brave.

One of my favorite verses in the Bible is Romans 8:28. It states: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

I think this speaks a lot to us. We have all been called according to His purpose because God works in us and for us who love Him.

My purpose, my thoughts, and my beliefs may be different that yours. And that’s ok. In fact, I have friends, the very best of friends, who are democrats. I am a republican. Our political beliefs may be different, but the fact is, we respect each other’s differences and we love each other for who we are and our similarities.

We all have been called according to God’s purpose and to vote the best way we see fit and then accept the results and not question. There is always a purpose and a reason.

The passage goes on to say in Romans 8:31-35

“What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare is own Son, but gave him up for us all-how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died – more than that, who raised to life – is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?

Romans 8:37-39

“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

You see, God loved us so much that he gave his Son for us. So who am I to question why an election did not turn out the way I wanted it to?

Without God we have nothing. So, instead of griping and complaining {like I sometimes want to do} I will pray for our President and all the people who were elected last night.

I will pray that they will see they have a purpose to fill. I will pray that they make decisions for our country that will help us grow and prosper like our Founding Fathers fought for so many years ago.

And I will be proud. I will be proud of my country.

I love that people stand up for what they believe…even though sometimes it drives me batty. I love that we can teach our children that they too will have a voice one day and will have the right to vote.

My only hope is that we all see we have a purpose according to God’s will. It’s not about scare tactics or name calling, or belligerent acts. It’s about coming together as a nation under God, voting for what we believe in, accepting the outcome, and having faith, hope, and love for one another and our country.

Where’s the Love?

When I was growing up I would here my mama make the comment to parents and friends about how {you} as a mother would rather your child act out at home than in public and school.

You know, when your child is at school you’d rather have him/her follow all the rules, not talk back, do the right thing, all that good jazz, and then they can act like crazies at home.

Well, we all know that mama’s are up there with Jesus…you listen to her and you don’t ask questions.

So, I did just that. I didn’t ask the question as to why she would think this. When I became a teacher {seems like eons ago}, I can remember uttering those same words to parents. Because my mama said it, it must be true.

I would be in a conference and talk about how good their child is. They would laugh and say, “well, they don’t act like that at home.” I would reassure them that they would much rather them act like they do at school and leave the craziness to home. That meant they as parents did their job.

I’m sure those parents left that conference laughing their faces off thinking, “What in the world does she know? She’s so young and doesn’t have kids of her own.”

I sit here today and laugh at myself for saying those things. Mama, I love you, but sometimes I wonder why we say such things to parents.

What am I getting at you ask?

I have two kids…two very good kids, and I am one blessed mama to have these two healthy, beautiful kids, but sometimes they challenge me to my core.

Sometimes I wonder, why can’t my kids act to me the way they do to others…grandparents, teachers, other adults, and sometimes even their daddy.

We have worked so hard to instill in them characteristics of a great person…respect, honesty, humbleness, responsibility…all those good things.

They have all of these…or at least I hear they do. Everyone is always telling me how sweet and good our kids are.

I know deep down inside that they are good, but sometimes I want to scream….

Where’s the love??? My love???

Not all the time, but a lot of the time I get the arguing, the back-talking, the fit throwing, the tattle-tailing, the fighting over everything.

Even when I go away for a girls’ weekend, my husband tells me how good they are. But when I walk in the door the ball drops: tears start falling and arguing and whining begins.

It’s so exhausting breaking up fights, and “teaching lessons” as to why I can’t buy an icee or a toy every time we go to Target. It’s so tiresome asking for manners and reminding them over and over again to do something.

But I guess as my mama would say…I’ve done a good job. I would rather them act up at home than out in public.

This is true but sometimes, I wonder where my love is. Then I’m greeted with the fact that my daughter has separation anxiety and doesn’t like to leave my side. She cries everyday when she has to go to school…that’s even harder than the arguing I think.

Then there’s my son who loves me too. He loves to cling to my leg every morning at school and tells me how much “he just wants me”.

I am one truly blessed mama. I have two great kids who love me…they just have a different way of showing it.

And like I’ve said before…It's NOT about bon-bons and soap operas.

So tell me, do you ever feel this way?

A Little Change in Color

So Dallas, my 6 1/2 year old has been asking for a desk.

One day I stopped by Good Will…just for giggles, and found this:

Could I have asked for anything better? Well, at the time, yes. They were asking a bit too much {I thought} for it, so I left it there.

I went back a few days later and saw that it was marked down from $100 to $60. It’s a Broyhill and a very solid desk. I could totally see potential in this thing and was not about to leave it behind another day.

So, I bought that thing right there and then {and left the purely horrible chair sitting all by its lonesome}.

Needless to say, Dallas, was overjoyed.

Then, it sat in the garage for a couple of weeks.

Well, in “Shana-like” style, this desk brought on a whole new project. Could I just put this desk in Dallas’ room and call it a day?

Heaven’s no!

This little desk has turned into a total room transformation.

I figured it’s a good time to change her room around…you know, new paint, new desk, new bedding, the works.

My poor husband just shook his head and mumbled some craziness of how I need to get a job…not sure what he’s talking about.

I then turned to my new obsession for inspiration for this room transformation…Fabric.com

One morning I was looking through the site, and Dallas walked over and pointed out two fabrics she “just loved”.

I took those two fabrics and came up with coordinating ones to go along. I ordered a bunch of samples and waited {semi-patiently} until they came in the mail.

When they came in, I was super excited.

I laid them out in Dallas’ room and we talked about how I wanted her to really think about which choice she wanted.

We left it for the night and the next day she had made her decision. {I love a girl who can make a decision.}

Want to take a guess as to which one?

I’ll give you a clue… her walls went from…

to…

She was super excited. She picked choice #1.

The walls are now painted and the desk is actually finished as well.

But, you’ll have to wait for all that…I wouldn’t want to give you all the details today. That would spoil all the fun!

Thanks for stopping by, and hope you check back with the reveal. I’m very excited about it. But first, I must go order some fabric ;o).

A Glimpse at Halloween

Hey y’all. Hope everyone had a great Halloween.

I know I’m a couple of days late, but I’ve been so crazy {as usual}. Eric’s parents came in to town for a visit. We were all super excited to see them.

They were delayed one day before coming down due to Sandy and the driving bans up north. Luckily they did not get any damage in Delaware  where they live…thank goodness.

They made it in time for the Halloween festivities…and even participated in dressing up. We made up an awesome team of super heroes.

What a fun night!

Just take a look at these two cute Supers!

And together we were going after those bad guys!

Our old neighbors and good friends, the Gross’, came back to the hood for our annual Halloween trick-or-treating fun.

It’s also Ella’s birthday, so we got to celebrate with her. I love having that special time with her and her family, and cannot believe she’s 9 years old.

But the night was a success, and lots of candy was received!

Another great Halloween is down and we all had a blast.

I hope all y’all had a great time and made great memories too.