I Think the Super Bowl Sucks.

I won't lie, I really don't like football. Berate me all you want, I just don't get it. First off the game itself is way too long, I won't even watch movies that long. I hate how they make a play, stop, measure crap, and start again. My attention span is lost very quickly. Yes, I have "celebrated" the Super Bowl many a drunken times, in my younger years. Although I never caught any of the game. My husband is an avid football fan, and has tried many a times to explain how majestic football is, I still don't get it. So I won't be one of the millions watching this Sunday. Am I alone on this?

Here is some interesting Super Bowl info.

- Super Bowl Sunday is the second largest U.S. food consumption day, following Thanksgiving. (I wonder what beer consumption is?)

- On average, 80 to 90 million Americans are tuned into the Super Bowl at any given moment.

- In 1991 New Kids on the Block were the half time show, I heart NKOTB.

- In 2009, 30 seconds of advertising time cost U.S. $3 million due to the extremely large audience

Hmmmm....what if we took all those millions and put it into our failing economy, instead of air time? Recession problem solved!

Even though its not my cup of tea, I hope everyone has a happy Super Bowl Sunday tomorrow.

Fun Fact Friday

Men are four times more likely to be struck by lightning than women.

Woman who had eight babies

Ok I just heard on the Nightly News that the woman who had eight babies is single, has six other children, and the kicker.....lives with her parents. What the hell???

Thought Provoking Thursday

"If a crystal ball would tell you the truth about any one thing

you wished to know concerning yourself, life, the future, or

anything else, what would you want to know?"

Please share your answer in the comments.

I Spy

I am sure many of you already know this game, but for those of you that don't, here it is. I have been playing this game with my oldest son. It can usually entertain him for 15-20 minutes, which is a long time for a four year old. We play it at home, in the car, and when we are stuck waiting and he is growing impatient.

Its very simple. You take turns saying "I spy with my two little eyes something ____" (fill in with color). Then you or your child guess what you saw that is that color. Take turns back and forth. My son thinks this is great.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

I always end up with brown bananas and I am not that big of a fan of banana bread. So I found this recipe and altered it slightly. These are so yummy, and a great way to use up those brown bananas.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 large bananas, mashed
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup butter, melted

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 cup chocolate chips or more if you like a lot of chocolate

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Coat muffin pans with non-stick spray, or use paper liners. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

2. Combine bananas, sugar, egg, vanilla and melted butter in a large bowl. Fold in flour mixture, and mix until smooth. Fold in chocolate chips. Scoop into muffin pans.

3.Bake in preheated oven. Bake mini muffins for 10 to 15 minutes, and large muffins for 25 to 30 minutes. Muffins will spring back when lightly tapped.

Fisher Price Little People Busy Day Home Review

With Christmas a month behind us certain toys have fallen by the wayside, while others are still hot commodities. My boys got the Little People Busy Day Home from my mom for Christmas. While it is overpriced for a piece of plastic they love it.

My oldest son is four and even he enjoys playing with it. My 1.5 year old adores it as well. They even play with it together....which is amazing. It is really cute, the doorbell rings, toilet flushes, the cat and dog make noises, the window makes noises, and the phone rings. We have lots of Little People toys, but for some reason they love this toy.

What toys are your kids still playing with from Christmas?

Mentally Ill & Migraines

Dr.s have found a correlation between people who suffer from migraines and the mentally ill. So not only can you be crazy, you can have a throbbing head as well....just another perk I guess.

In a study of over 4,000 Germans (maybe they are more crazy) they found that if you suffered from migraines you are twice as likely to be depressed, three times as likely to be bipolar, and four times as likely to be agoraphobic.

They believe is has something to do with abnormalities in brain chemicals. Often the migraines present themselves before the onset of the mental illness.

One in ten people suffer from migraines. I guess I am fortunate to have scathed the migraines.

Do any of you get migraines? How do you treat them?

Eco-house Dollhouse

For all of those green mamas out there.

"Here’s something for those of you who believe in the you-gotta-start-em-young philosophy of sustainable living: the Eco House by WonderWorld Toys."

"The house comes equipped with solar roof panels, a wind turbine, recycling bins, a bicycle (there is no car), a rain barrel (aka rainwater tank or water butt) and garden greenery.

Unlike many barren dollhouses, this one comes fully accessorized with a shower, vanity, waste basket, small and large beds, oven, table, three chairs, two parents and a child, a recycle bin, a waste bin and two planters."

Tissue Paper Hearts

My son loved making these, he thought it was the coolest concept. I didn't think he would be able to do it, but he figured it out.

What you will need:

- Cardstock

- Tissue paper

- Scissors

- Glue or glue stick

- Pencil

- Yarn

Cut 2 hearts out of card stock. Cut the tissue paper into a bunch of 3 inch squares. Wrap the tissue paper around the eraser end of a pencil and dip in glue (I just ran mine across the end of a glue stick...probably not as messy). Place on hearts. When finished glue the two hearts together, and punch a hole in the top. String with yarn and hang them up :)

Fun Fact Friday

An office desk has 400 times more bacteria than a toilet.

Fabulous Photo

Photo from Miriam, taken by her daughter Danika, in Fort Meyers, FL. Thanks!

Send your fabulous photo to manicmotherme@gmail.com please include your name, location, and a link if you have one.

Thought Provoking Thursday

"Would you be willing to have horrible nightmares every night for a year if you would be awarded with extraordinary wealth?"

Please leave your answer in the comments.



Question from The Book of Questions.

Serial Surrogates

I saw something on TV not to long ago about these women who repeatedly are surrogate mothers, they called them "serial surrogates".

One woman had given birth to 12 babies in 13 years...she had twins once and triplets once as well. She had two kids of her own, but said she really liked helping people out. She even accidentally gave her own baby away...and didn't want it back. I have to question her motives. Taking into consideration a woman gets anywhere from $20,000-$30,000 per pregnancy (bonus for multiples), I highly doubt she was just that great of a Samaritan. 30,000 dollars is a whole lot more than I am making being a stay at home mom.

On one hand I think it is a beautiful thing to give people babies that can't have them on their own. On the other hand having carried babies myself , I don't think I could give it up. Even if it didn't have my own DNA. There is such a bond formed during those nine months. What do you think about surrogacy? Do you think it is mentally healthy for a woman? Could you do it? Please share what you think in the comments

.

Technorati Tags: Serial surrogates, surrogate, pregnancy

Surprise Cookies

Surprise Cookies



In my quest to bake my way through Martha's cookie book, I tried this recipe. These are so sinfully good
.

Ingredients:
(for the cookies)

- 1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch process)
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter (room temp.)
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- about 15 large marshmallows halved crosswise


(for the frosting)

- 3 cups confectioners sugar ( I think I used more like four to get the right consistency)
- 6 tblsp unsalted butter (room temp.)
- 1/4 cup plus 2 tblsp whole milk
- 1/4 cup plus 1 1/2 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- 3/4 tsp vanilla extract


1. Preheat oven to 375. Make cookies: Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt into a bowl.

2. Put butter and sugar into the bowl of an electric mixer w/ paddle attachment. Mix on medium -high until pale and fluffy (2 min.) Reduce speed to medium-low; mix in egg, milk,and vanilla. Mix in flour mixture 1/2 cup at a time.

3. Using a 1 3/4 inch cookie scoop, drop dough onto baking sheet lined w/ parchment paper, about 2 inches apart. Bake cookies rotating half way through, until firm 8-10 min. Immediately press a marshmallow half on top of each cookie, bake another 2 min. Pat down the marshmallow after they come out of the oven. Let cool completely.

4. Make frosting: put confectioners' sugar in a medium bowl. Melt butter w/ the cocoa powder in a saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat , add confectioner's sugar. Whisk in vanilla and milk.

5. Spread about one tblsp frosting on top of cookies. Let stand about 10 minutes to set. Cookies can be stored 2 days.

Princess

Yesterday out of no where my son turns to me and says "Mama is a princess". I said to him "You are absolutely right." ......How did he know?

Martin Luther King

"I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today!"

Quote taken from MLK's infamous " I Have a Dream" speech.

Wouldn't he have immense gratification to know that 46 years later his "dream" came true. We have come a long ways, but we still have a ways to go.

Happy Martin Luther King Day!

Note to self:

Do not go to the grocery store on the weekend, it is a labyrinth of grocery carts. Do not get behind any woman who appears over 55, they will inevitably break out their prehistoric checkbook and pay by check.

The Bipolar Child

I was 13 when I tried to end my own life. It wasn't a feeble "cry for help" attempt. I took a massive amount of ibuprofen, and lost consciousness only to be woken up by my mother the next morning. I could hardly move, my stomach hurt so bad. I got lucky...... ibuprofen is non-toxic. My liver may have problems some day, but none yet. Had I grabbed something else it may have been a different story, it just happened to be the biggest bottle; hence the most pills.

I was hospitalized in a adult psych. ward for a week. I was put on anti-depressants and told I had clinical depression. Obviously that was not the right diagnosis, but bipolar disorder is hard to identify in children. It is often mis-diagnosed as ADHD. I look at 13 year old children now, and I get sick to my stomach. At 13 you can still see the baby in their face. I can not even imagine what my parents went through. Yes, I worry my sons will inherit it, but at least I know what to look for. My kids have a 15% - 30% chance of being bipolar. So to enlighten everyone here is what to look for.

Very Common

-Separation Anxiety
-Rages & Explosive Temper Tantrums (lasting up to several hours)
-Marked Irritability
-Oppositional Behavior
-Frequent Mood Swings
-Distractibility
-Hyperactivity
-Impulsivity
-Restlessness/ Fidgeting
-Silliness, Goofiness, Giddiness
-Racing Thoughts
-Aggressive Behavior
-Grandiosity
-Carbohydrate Cravings
-Risk-Taking Behaviors
-Depressed Mood
-Lethargy
-Low Self-Esteem
-Difficulty Getting Up in the Morning
-Social Anxiety
-Oversensitivity to Emotional or Environmental Triggers Common

Common

-Bed-Wetting (especially in boys)
-Night Terrors
-Rapid or Pressured Speech
-Obsessional Behavior
-Excessive Daydreaming
-Compulsive Behavior
-Motor & Vocal Tics
-Learning Disabilities
-Poor Short-Term Memory
-Lack of Organization
-Fascination with Gore or Morbid Topics
-Hypersexuality
-Manipulative Behavior
-Bossiness
-Lying
-Suicidal Thoughts
-Destruction of Property
-Paranoia
-Hallucinations & Delusions

Less Common

-Migraine Headaches
-Bingeing
-Self-Mutilating Behaviors
-Cruelty to Animals

Big Words for Little People

My mom bought the boys this book for Christmas. It is so cute, I highly recommend it. One of my favorite lines in the book is - " Different means nobody's ever the same. All bodies are different and so are all brains. Different is what makes this world so great. Different is never something to hate." I have a few of her books they are all so great, and the illustrations are really neat. I also really like "I'm Gonna Like Me".

Fun Fact Friday

The tongue of a blue whale is as long as an elephant.

Little Boys

" A boy is a noise with dirt on it."

I love my little boys dearly, but there are some days when they are just too much. I watch little girls play, and for the most part they play quietly, and keep their hands to themselves. Where as my boys are screaming some lost language at the top of their lungs. They are dog piling on each other, and me. Pushing each other over and fighting over toys. They get into everything, and never stop.

Yesterday I found myself wanting to go to the gynecologist. I hate going, but I was so looking forward to sitting down in the waiting room, and reading my book for more then a minute with out hearing "hey Mama". I guess you know you are a stay at home mom when you look forward to going to the gynecologist.

Thought Provoking Thursday

" If you could change one of your personality traits, what would it be ?"


Please leave your answer in the comments.

question from the book If

Valentine Kid Craft

I love Valentine's Day it is the one time of year that I get to have some pink and glitter in my testosterone filled life. My oldest son and I made these yesterday, I hope to get him to make a few more so we can stuff them with treats and leave them on peoples doors.

Paper Plate Heart

What you will need:

- 2 paper plates

- colored paper

- ribbon

- stapler

- glitter

- markers or crayons

- hole punch

- Fold the paper plates in half and flatten them. Put one inside of the other and staple them together. Trim the top of the paper plates to look like hearts. Punch holes in the sides and string with ribbon. You can decorate them however you like. We used card stock paper, markers, glitter and doilies. I found the doilies at the dollar store. Fill them with treats or they could be used to hold valentines as well.

Idea came from one of my Family Fun books
.Technorati Tags: Valentine craft, kid craft, heart

Shout Out to Victoria Woodhull

I am going to do a different "shout out" to a famous woman in history every month.

This month is Victoria Woodhull. Victoria Woodhull was one of the leaders of the American woman's suffrage movement in the 19th century. She is most famous for her declaration to run for US president in 1872. She was the first woman to ever run for president, she helped pave the road for other women. Even though women were not allowed to vote until 1920, there was no law prohibiting them to run for president. I don't want to write out a whole bio since that gets boring, but to read more click here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_Woodhull. Thanks Victoria Woodhull

Technorati Tags: Victoria Woodhull, women in history, woman president

Great Light Recipe

This is one of my favorite recipes, I make it at least a couple of times a month. I have found that you don't really need the heavy whipping cream , it doesn't make much difference in taste. I like to saute a side of mushrooms to go with it. I also use boneless chicken breasts in place of thighs. This recipe is from Cooking Light.

Yield

4 servings (serving size: 2 chicken thighs and 1 cup rice)

Ingredients

• Cooking spray
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 (3 1/2-ounce) bags boil-in-bag brown rice
• 1/3 cup dry white wine
• 8 skinless, boneless chicken thighs (about 1 3/4 pounds)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
• 3 tablespoons whipping cream
• 1/3 cup (1 1/2 ounces) shredded Parmesan cheese

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 450°.

2. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add onion to pan; sauté 2 minutes. Add garlic; sauté 30 seconds. Remove rice from bags; add to pan. Sauté 30 seconds. Stir in wine; cook 30 seconds or until liquid almost evaporates. Spoon rice mixture in an even layer into a 13 x 9–inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.

3. Arrange chicken thighs in a single layer over rice mixture; sprinkle evenly with thyme and salt. Combine broth and cream, stirring well; pour over chicken and rice mixture.

4. Bake at 450° for 15 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake an additional 5 minutes or until chicken is done.

Nutritional Information

Calories:

498 (35% from fat)

Fat:

19.1g (sat 7.5g,mono 6.7g,poly 3.1g)

Protein:

38.2g

Carbohydrate:

43.8g

Fiber:

5.6g

Cholesterol:

122mg

Iron:

3mg

Sodium:

765mg

Calcium:

198mg

Julianna Grimes, Cooking Light, MARCH 2008

Technorati Tags: Cooking Light, light recipe, chicken, rice

Bipolar and Behind the Wheel

This is a picture of my Honda civic after being side swiped at 70 mph. You may be wondering what bipolar has to do with the car accident, quite a bit actually. I was diagnosed with clinical depression at 13, it wasn't until I was 17 that I was properly diagnosed bipolar. During those four years in between I was on anti-depressants. Anti-depressants alone can cause mania, in people with bipolar. For four years I was out of control. I was reckless in everything I did, including my driving. I ran a yellow light at about 70mph and a truck (also running the light) turned into me. If I wasn't so out of control, I would have stopped at that light. I was always taking a risk, and living on the edge.

They told me that if I had not been wearing my seat belt, I would have died. I would have been thrown from the car at such a fast speed, death would have been imminent. My parents always made us wear our seat belts, (thanks mom and dad).

Maybe a minute after the accident happened my brother drove past and saw it. I believe it was fate that he happened on the scene. I have no recollection of the accident, I was in shock, but at least my brother was there for me. I can't imagine how it was seeing his sister so hurt. There was blood everywhere, and the jaws of life had to remove my mangled body from the car. My tibia was protruding through my skin and my arm was in an unnatural position. I had broken my tibia, my ankle, and my wrist all on the right side of my body. I had surgeries to fix my leg, I now have a bolt and pin in my leg. My arm was put in a cast.

Recovery was awful and terribly depressing, I fell behind in my school work. I was humiliated by how I looked. The accident was the catalyst for me dropping out of high school. I think it would have happened anyway due to the bipolar, but the accident sped it up a little.

I am lucky.... I have scathed death more then once. I also recovered fully. In addition I received 80,000 dollars from the man's insurance, when I turned 18. $80,000 + bipolar = big trouble. That is another blog all in its self. Moral of the story; don't get in a car with a person who is manic, and wear your seat belt.

Technorati Tags: Bipolar, car accident, seat belt

Shocking Stat.

So I was looking up some things on Bipolar disorder the other day and I came across this.

- Bipolar disorder is the sixth leading cause of disability in the world. (World Health Organization)

Now,I know just how debilitating bipolar can be, but this shocked even me. I think most people would be amazed to learn this as well. Many people don't even consider a mental illness to be a disability. It very much is, it just has such a large spectrum. There are many highly functioning bipolar people, but there are also those that can't even leave the house.

Technorati Tags: Bipolar, disability

Fabulous Photo

Photo from Glenna, Thanks!

Submit your fabulous photo to manicmotherme@gmail.com , include your name, location, and any link you would like me to share.

Happiness is.....

Happiness is found when you take that huge hike up a mountain and get to experience this view at the top.

Picture from Lianro, in FL. http://schoolpsych.edublogs.org/

Please send your Happiness is photos with your name and locations to manicmotherme@gmail.com

90 Minutes in Heaven

I somewhere ran across the name of this book, I had not heard anything about it, but the title grabbed me, so I ordered it. 90 Minutes in Heaven is the book. I thought to myself, if this guy says he has spent 90 minutes in heaven, I certainly want to hear about it. Who doesn't want to know what heaven is like? Let me preface this by saying I am by no means a religious person. We were raised Agnostic as children. I believe there is a higher power and an eternal life...but I have no clue what either of them would entail, I don't subscribe to any certain religion's beliefs on either.

Back to the book, I start reading it and he immediately goes into his description of heaven. He describes the pearly gates, and the Angels singing, and so on. At this point I almost put down the book, because I thought it was going to be a tad to religious for me. I kept reading. I read the book in a few days. Most of the book is actually about his car accident, the recovery, and how it has changed him. It was a really good book, he has a great outlook on humanity. I recommend reading this especially if you are deeply religious, but anyone would enjoy it. It has a great message in the end. The book made me reflect a lot on the car accident I was in. I will have to find those pictures over the weekend and put them up.

The book raised this question in my mind though...what if everyone's heaven is different? Certainly different religions have different ideas on what heaven is. So what if heaven is a place you go to that you were taught to believe? Then I started thinking that I would really like my heaven to be like Charlie's Chocolate Factory. Chocolate rivers, roads, and candy trees....now that sounds like heaven to me.

Bad Hair Happens

This is Dana, from Florida. Picture taken in 1993. Thanks Dana!

Submit your Bad Hair picture to manicmotherme@gmail.com

Technorati Tags: Bad hair

Fun Fact Friday

You are more likely to be killed by a champagne cork than a poisonous spider!

That Mom

Oh no, I have become "that mom". Rowan, who is now 4 has really gotten too big for grocery carts. Or rather, its getting too hard to get his 40+lb body in and out of a cart. Much to my own discord, I have started letting home venture out on his own. I needed to get out of the house yesterday, so we ran a few errands. The first stop he started weaving through aisles to where he was out of my sight. Of course panic sets in when only 30 seconds pass and you don't see your child. I calmly tried to explain that he needed to stay where I could see him. The second stop he listened a little better and stayed closer. The third stop was the grocery store. This is where I transformed into "that mom" and lost my cool. You know the type, you see them (usually at the grocery store or Walmart) they appear frazzled and disheveled. They are constantly reprimanding there children, and you can't help but feel for them. I have always vowed never to be "that mom" but yesterday it happened. Rowan would not listen. This was my dialogue (which apparently I was having with myself.) "Rowan, stop", Rowan don't touch", "No we don't need that", "Move out of the way" "Rowan, no", "Rowan listen". I said each of these things at least five times, each time my voice got an octave higher. I saw people giving me that "sympathetic look". Then we get to check out and of course there is candy right at their little level. So he grabs something, I say "No, we don't need that", he starts pitching a fit. So to avoid the fit I end up with M&M's. Why, oh why, do they put candy right there? How evil. Hopefully the next venture out will go better.

Thought Provoking Thursday?

"Without your kidney as a transplant, someone close to you will die within one month. The odds that you will survive the operation are only 50 percent, but should you survive you would be certain of a normal life expectancy. Would you consent to the operation?"

Please feel free to leave your answer in the comments section.


Question came from the book

Lithum .... a hard pill to swallow

Back on the lithium I go. I hate taking it. I know I have to take it, I have this disorder... and its not going anywhere. I have been on some sort of mood altering drug since I was 13. Its just such a hard concept to accept. My brain does not work like most people's. I have seen such darkness and light, through my bipolar. I have been severely immobilized by my depression at times, not even able to function a normal day to day life. On the other hand I have had great moments of mania, that I really enjoyed.

I can't imagine its easy for people who are not mentally ill to understand. The best way I can think to describe it is to give you a scenario. Say you were told that you had to permanently remove a part of your personality, something that makes you who you are as a person. It may be a part of you that you really enjoy sometimes, but then "poof" its gone, as if it never were. Ultimately, you end up feeling as though part of you is missing. Sane people always just assume its as simple as taking a pill to make you feel better. But if the tables were turned and you had to take a pill that effected the way your brain worked; the core system of your whole being....would you swallow that pill?

Now, I know I am a better wife, mother, and person with the medications. I will be taking medications for the rest of my life, but that doesn't make it any easier. After 16 years of treatment there is one thing I still have yet to understand. Am I really being who I am supposed to be if I am taking a part of myself away.....? Lithium really is a hard pill to swallow.


Technorati Tags: Lithium, bipolar, manic, depressed, pill

Fabulous Photo

My very talented husband took this picture of our passion flower plant.

If you have a fabulous photo please send to manicmotherme@gmail.com

Where oh where has my baby gone?

Its as if someone came into our house in the middle of the night, and took my sweet baby, and replaced him with this little monster. My baby is gone. I knew it was inevitably going to happen, it just happened a lot sooner the second time around. He is no longer the innocent, sweet baby who can do no harm. He has taken up pushing, throwing, whining, and temper tantrums in his spare time. His patience level is about 2 seconds. I am never getting him whatever it is he needs nearly fast enough to suite him. In all fairness to him, I think he is getting his 2 year old molars a little early. In reality, I know most of his satanic ways stem from watching his brother. It makes me sad to realize he is no longer my baby. I really enjoyed it as much as I could. Even though my husband is certain we should have another baby, I am not sold on the idea. That may be it.....baby time may just be over for me forever. Sad. I guess only the years will tell......

Oh Martha

Martha Stewart's Cookies: The Very Best Treats to Bake and to Share (Martha Stewart Living Magazine)
I am not going to lie, I love Martha Stewart. She is one of my idols (minus the whole prison stint). I have her books, magazines, and I watch her show (when the kids will let me). One of my favorite books she has is Martha Stewart Cookies. It is beautiful book with pictures for every recipe. I love baking, maybe because I love sweets! Here is one of the cookie recipes from the book. I love this recipe, I don't really like chocolate chip cookies but these are amazing. The trick is to take them out just when you see a little brown on the edges....they will not look done, but they are.

Cakey Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
Makes about 3 dozen
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
14 tablespoons (1 3/4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups (about 12 ounces) semisweet and/or milk chocolate chips


Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and baking soda; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter with both sugars; beat on medium speed until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low; add the salt, vanilla, and eggs. Beat until well mixed, about 1 minute. Add flour mixture; mix until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
Drop heaping tablespoon-size balls of dough about 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
Bake until cookies are golden around the edges and set in the center, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from oven, and let cool on baking sheet 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, and let cool completely. Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week.Please send me your favorite recipes include a picture if you can to manicmotherme@gmail.com

Technorati Tags: Martha Stewart Cookies, Cookies, Chocolate chip

Happiness is......

Happiness is..... being stuffed in a giant pumpkin by your parents.

I would like to get more pictures from other people. Either silly pictures of your kids, or any great picture. Please include your first name, and complete the sentence Happiness is.... send to manicmotherme@gmail.com

Bipolar and Brilliant

It is pretty well known that a lot of really creative people are also mentally ill. I plan to showcase a different famous person with bipolar every month.

Robin Williams

I think we all know who he is so I don't think there is a whole lot of explaining to do. I chose him first because I think he is a brilliant actor. He can touch the old and the young through his comedy. One of my favorite movies he ever did was " What Dreams May Come". If you want to learn more about Robin Williams click here.

Can you believe they make this.....?

I was watching 20/20 the other night and they did part of their show about these dolls called reborns. They are dolls that are the actual size of newborns and look and feel like real babies. They are beautiful and I totally respect the craftsmanship that goes into them. However, women are buying these dolls (which are very expensive) and pretending they are real babies. They showed a woman carrying the baby around and attracting all of this attention from strangers who thought her baby was real. These women even had complete nurseries and all. One woman even had birthday parties for the dolls and invited real people. Crazy......

Bad Hair Happens

So I would like to start a regular feature called "Bad Hair Happens". Please send me pictures of you and your bad hair. Send to manicmotherme@gmail.com . Include a pic in jpeg form, your first name, the year the picture was taken, and your location. This is me and my mullet, circa 1986 I think.

Pre- Poop

So my youngest always poops a little ( I call it the pre- poop) and then I will smell it. I have what my friends refer to as "super poop nose". He can be in another room, or even outside and my poop nose picks up its scent immediately. So after changing the pre-poop about 10-15 minutes later he poops again! So in my head I am calculating the wasted cost of that last diaper he wore for all of ten minutes. Part of me thinks I should just let him chill in his pre-poop until he is finished. However, I just can't bring myself to do this. My husband is more then fine with "letting it ride", and it doesn't seem to bother him to sit in his poop. My question for you is does your kid do this and do you "let it ride", or change it right away?

Healthy hints

So last night there was not much on TV and I came across this on the Discovery channel. They had three shows; half ton teen, half ton mom, and half ton dad. I watched the first show in complete awe, and of course had to watch the others. Now I have been obese myself before, so I understand how easy it is to gain weight. But this is insane. We have the highest obesity rate of any country. We are marketed at a young age to eat processed, pre-packaged crap. There is high fructose corn syrup in everything. They add this to food to make it sweet so it tastes better and you eat more. Ketchup, pickles, yogurt, and cereal all have HFCS, to name a few. I read Michael Pollan's book, In Defense of Food, which is all about food health. I highly reccomend reading this book it will change the way you look at food, or at least enlighten you.

I know a lot of people start diets for the new year. Here are some things that have helped me lose and maintain my weight.

- I don't go back for seconds and I eat off a small plate

- I order kids meals if we get fast food for the kids....its more then enough food.

- Before putting food in my mouth I ask myself " Am I hungry?", a lot of the time I am not and just eating out of boredom

- I try not to snack on the kids snacks

- If we are going to a restaurant I look up there nutrition guide ahead of time, most restaurants have this info available. Except the really sinful ones like Sonny's and Popeye's.

- When dieting I measure and weigh everything and track the calories on sparkpeople.com.

- I have one day a week where I allow myself a treat.

- I rarely drink calories with the occasional exception of a cocktail or a glass of wine.

- I weigh myself weekly so I can catch any weight gain

- And of course I exercise regularly.

Hope this helps!

Ezra

My 3 year old son Ezra, was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) on May 21st, 2009.  He will have three years of chemotherapy.
Read the story of his diagnosis here.
My thoughts on having a child with cancer here and here.
For complete medical updates visit us at For Ezra.
Ways you can help children with cancer here.

Fun Fact Friday

Women blink nearly twice as much as men.

Cajun Crab Soup

Since it is cold out I thought I would share a soup recipe. This is the most amazing soup ever.....of course not the healthiest though. I have made this soup at least ten times since finding the recipe on allrecipes.com. I use shrimp instead of crab so I don't have to pick through the crab meat. Give it a try, its fantastic.

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups clam juice
2 cups chicken broth
1 (10 ounce) package frozen white corn
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
2 cups heavy cream
1 pound lump crabmeat, drained
4 green onions, chopped

DIRECTIONS

Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Saute onion and garlic until onion is tender.

Whisk in flour, and cook 2 minutes. Stir in clam juice and chicken broth, and bring to a boil.

Mix in corn, and season with salt, white pepper, thyme, and cayenne. Reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes.

Stir in cream, crab meat, and green onions. Heat through, but do not boil once the cream has been added.

I would like to put up other peoples favorite recipes also. Please send me your favorite recipes including a picture to manicmotherme@gmail.com .

Photography

 

I do portrait photography in North Central, Florida. You can check out that website here.

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I also am available for hire to edit your photos. I can erase wrinkles, whiten teeth, make you lose 5lbs, and add a twinkle to your eye! I can also apply different effects and textures to your photos, and numerous other tasks to make your pictures look their best.

Rates:

-One image for $10.00

-Three images for $25.00

-Five images for $40.00

Rates are based on the amount of time I spend editing photos, I generally take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour per image.

Contact me at: manicmotherme@gmail.com

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I get asked a lot what kind of camera I use go here to learn more about that. You can also find photography books and gear in my Amazon sidebar widget, that I have and highly recommend.

Also look for Lolli and I’s Bloggography tutorials!

Year in review

Thank God 2008 is over! This was by far one of the hardest years I have ever had, mentally and physically. The year started out with me having to have pre-cancerous cells removed. The procedure was painful and awful, and I had further complications from it, and ended up in the ER.


Then I started having severe chest pain and it was debilitating....worse then labor pains. My Dr. thought it was just GERD , which is an awful thing to have. Turns out that was not what it was. Around this time I also started having mild vertigo and other random weird symptoms. I had so many tests done. I even ate a radio-active egg sandwich. They could not figure out what was wrong with me, it took them months to figure it out. Not knowing what is physically wrong with you is a sure fire way to make a bi-polar person absolutely crazy. I started having panic attacks and googled everything possible trying to self diagnose myself. The Dr.s finally concluded that I had gallstones (causing the chest pain) so I needed to have my gallbladder removed. During the MRI they found a large mass as well. Turned out I had a tumor on my adrenal gland. It was about the size of a lemon...much larger then my adrenal gland. So I had my adrenal gland and the tumor removed. The tumor was benign. Just the notion that it could have been cancer scared me straight. This really taught me so many things. My bi-polar self realized I am not immortal! I could die at any given moment. Why this hadn't occurred to me yet....I don't know, I guess its that magical thinking they talk about.

So I gained a huge respect for my health and started taking better care of myself and went from

I went from a size 20 to a 6. I eat right and exercise regularly. I didn't want to die someday from weight related complications and have my children know that I failed them, just because I was too lazy to get off my big ass. Life is too short, make the most of the time you have here.

Peeing

My four year old son has started peeing standing up. I did not teach him this yet, because I was trying to delay the inevitable urine dribbles on and around the toilet. There is nothing more disgusting then sitting down on someones pee, or cleaning it up for that matter. Well..... I take that back, there was the time last week where he tried to poop standing up.....that was pretty gross also. But, he figured out how to pee standing up anyways....monkey see, monkey do. There is something about seeing somebody three feet tall peeing into a giant toilet that makes me giggle every time I see it. It doesn't help that he giggles while he goes. Thus begins my slavery to the toilet and the surrounding area.