Lunch with Madison

I recently got to eat lunch with Madison at her school. It was a lot of fun being brought into the world of a 4th grader. Yucky food, stupid boys an cranky teachers. Mady was pretty pumped about getting Wendy's and so were her friends when she shared her fries! She is growing up so fast.

" The gang "

Madison and Madison

Judgment

I have tried to make my adult life and christian heart as judgment free as I can. I have better days than others, but on those days I pray. So it is extremely hard for me to get past the feelings of being judged by others. I am not who I was as an adolescence, I am not who I was as a teenager . I am however who I am today because of the insecurities and bad choices I made in my youth. Because of those things I grew stronger, less insecure and at that point I started making choices for me not for my peers to try to fit in. If I don't fit in now, well I'm okay with that because I am loved and I am happy. I don't know why I am posting this on my blog except to get certain feelings off of my chest so thank you for listening. And if I have ever judged or wronged anyone throughout my life that is reading this post, I am truly sorry.

We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing, while others judge us by what we have already done
~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The only justice is to follow the sincere intuition of the soul, angry or gentle. Anger is just, and pity is just, but judgement is never just.
~D.H. Lawrence

Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you (Matthew 7:12).”

TONIGHT IS PIONEER WOMAN NIGHT!

Nothing else to say except... Ye haw!

My current Obsession

First of all I LOVE to cook and I LOVE to bake I LOVE to take pictures and I LOVE my family. So needless to say I am in love with The Pioneer Woman . I know that there are tons of recipes and tons of websites, but none even come close to measuring up to Ree's. I call her Ree because we are tight like that, okay we have never met.... HOWEVER I will be meeting her on Monday! She is currently on on a book signing tour for her cookbook The Pioneer Woman Cooks and she will be in Kansas City. If any of you are looking for Christmas gifts for the cookers in your life then look no further. And if you want to meet her then call Rainy Day Books (913) 384-3126 and see if there are any reservations left. The afternoon session is sold out (200) but the one that I am going to on the plaza still has tickets available. They will also be giving out prizes! Win, win situation to me...

The recipes all have pictures... Can I hear and AMEN? I have an unhealthy love for cookbooks and if they do not have pictures then there is a pretty good chance I won't purchase it. The pictures in her book serve these purposes to me.

~ I know what I am going to sink my teeth into at the end of the cooking journey
~ I know if I royally screwed it up
~ Easy to follow directions
~ And because I like pictures

I am going to make her cinnamon rolls to give as gifts to my friends around Christmas. I'll make sure to let you know how they turn out. And if you are on my nice list you will get to taste them first hand!

Did I mention that I am excited to meet the Pioneer Woman? Excuse me, my BFF Ree!

Sweet Swap ~ Honey bun cake

Ingredients:

*1 package yellow cake mix
*3/4 cup vegetable oil
*4 eggs
*1 (8 ounce) container sour cream
*1 cup brown sugar
*1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Frosting:
*2 cups confectioners powdered sugar
*4 tablespoons milk
*1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350’ degrees. (325' for glass pans).In a large mixing bowl, combine cake mix, oil, eggs and sour cream. Mix with a mixer or you can stir by hand approximately 50 strokes, or until most large lumps are gone. Pour half of the batter into an ungreased 9x13 inch baking dish. Combine the brown sugar and cinnamon, and sprinkle over the batter in the cake pan. Spoon the other half of the batter into the cake pan, covering the brown sugar and cinnamon.
Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes.

Poke holes in the cake and frost while it is still warm.
*To make the frosting: In a small bowl, whisk together the confectioner's sugar, milk and vanilla until smooth.

If you love cinnamon rolls, you will love this cake!

Sweet Swap

I saw this on one of the blog's that I visit and it is such a great idea, so I'm in! Especially this time of year. Please visit Katie's blog to get the details and join in on the fun.
( I went to high school with Katie's husband Seth, and it appears that he is a lucky guy.) :)

My Family

Last night Barry and I had parent teacher conferences. Madison read us one of her stories that she had written in class. I wanted to share a portion of it with you. I was 100% okay with crying in front of her teacher.... We are so blessed to have such a great little girl.


Hi my name is Madison. I have a wonderful family. They are fun, funny and loving! I have my dad, Sarah, and Kitty. I know that I don't have a big family but they are a lot to me!

My dad's name is Barry. He works very hard for my family! He took me to Disney World! He is my best friend. He loves me even when he is mad at me!

My dad's girlfriends name is Sarah. She is the nicest girl I have ever met. She is the best. We always talk through our problems. She also works hard for my family!

Last but not least. My fat cat Kitty. She is beautiful and loving. Kitty is always warm hearted and wild. But she will always be my Kitty!


~ Madison F.