Simple Summit

10.10.2016

Simple Moments . . .

. . . from a joint birthday party this weekend.

The truck.

Most of the decorations came right out of our backyard.

Like the wood logs for the cupcake stand and the treat bags.

j all wiped out after the party.

10.07.2016

When I was pregnant with my daughter, I was blessed to have two other young co-worker friends pregnant with their first baby at the same time. It made for a lot of wonderful conversations, whilst sharing our pregnancies and asking the usual "is this normal" questions, as well as preparing for the time after birth. If not before, then as soon as our babies were born, though, we were also asking each other and ourselves, how long we would stay out of work to care for our babies.

'When are you coming back, do you know yet?' or 'Are you taking just six weeks or the full twelve?', we wondered.

These questions that were asked by us, were also asked by others to us. Coming from a country where mothers or fathers are allowed to stay at home with their children for at least a year, here in the US {paid} maternity leave is almost a luxury, I believe. I have seen unfortunate mothers, who had to return back to work only two weeks after giving birth and thus, being entirely dependent on loving family to help with childcare for their newborn. But, whether out of serious concern for each other in our intimate setting as friends, or out of necessity in figuring out workplace coverage, or just to fill that awkward silence during a conversation, the question about maternity leave remains a hot topic. We explore others' wisdom and experiences whilst trying to figure out our own situations.

For us, at the time of e's birth, I was very blessed to have had friends' offering to watch her, so I could return to work. I knew she was in great hands and didn't have to worry about her at all. And yet, as a first-time mom, I thought I was superwoman, running a household while still working full time. Our mornings flew by in a whirlwind of getting us ready and out the door for an hour long drive to work. Evenings dragged on with dinner preparation, bathtime and housework until we finally fell into bed exhausted from our day. Through all this hustling, my heart still longed to be with her and thus, after much prayer and sharing with my husband, five days after her first birthday, I was very fortunate to become a stay at home mom.

Even so, I'm almost three years into staying at home with now two kids {minus a short period of time where I worked out of a storefront business I co-owned at the time} and I'm still asked when I will return to work.

But do we ever? Fully return, I mean?

Frankly, I don't believe we do. As a mother or father, for that matter, we know, once we step into the world of parenthood, we are in it for life. My whole being changed the moment e came out of my belly and into this world. Whether or not we are working full time and managing a household, or staying at home and {still} managing a household, we will never be the same person we were before we had children. #amiright

Sharing with one or more of these beautiful Ladies

10.05.2016

Spider Cookies

If you follow me on Instagram, you have already heard this story, and so I will apologize if I repeat myself. One day here recently, e and I found a caterpillar in our yard. Actually, we found two, but the other one deceased in a very unfortunate event of being squished by my shoe. With my foot in it. Attached to all of my body-weight. I promise I didn't mean to, the poor thing just happened to be in my way. To save the other caterpillar, we decided to move him to a safer spot on the butterfly bush in front of e's window.

Around the bush, I ran into a spider web. No big deal, I thought, looking around for any traces of a probably now unhappy Momma spider, but couldn't find one. Back to the mission of finding our caterpillar a new home, I lean forward and almost had him on a branch, when e looks at me and says -

"There's a spider, Mama"

"Where?"

"On your back!"

And as she says these words, out of the corner of my eye I can see a big huge black and yellow garden spider crawling up on my shoulder. O_o

I screamed. And took off my shirt. In the middle of our yard {sorry, neighbors}. All the while worrying it may get caught in my everyday mom hair bun. Luckily it didn't.

That said, sometimes I would prefer not to have a close encounter like this one to get me in the spirit of things. Baking spider cookies instead is a much better idea. And just in case you are in the mood, here is a very simple way of preparing them with cookies, Chocolate Truffles, Syrup and candied eyes.

I started with a basic snickerdoodles recipe, though I have seen it done with a Peanut butter cookie and it turns out better if you ask me. But we have Peanut allergies in our household and thus a snickerdoodle will have to do.

So, once you mix your cookies, roll them into small balls about one inch in diameter and begin baking them as directed. However, once they rise into dome shapes {around 10 minutes of baking}, dent the cookies and the finish baking them. I used my measuring spoon in 1 TBSP size.

Let them cool almost completely. Use melted semi-sweet chocolate to draw out legs and place the Truffle Pralines on top. You want them to slightly melt, so they stick.

Pop some eyes on them and you are pretty much done. Easy as that.

Basic Snickerdoodle Recipe

1/2 c butter, softened

1 c granulated sugar

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

1 egg

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 c all-purpose flour

I omitted the additional 2 TBSP sugar and 1 tsp ground cinnamon for this recipe.

Directions

1. With a standard kitchen mixer, in a large mixing bowl beat butter on medium to high speed for 30 seconds.

2. Add 1 c sugar, baking soda, and cream of tartar. Beat until combined, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally.

3. Beat in egg and vanilla . Add the flour gradually.

4. Cover and chill in the fridge for 1 hour.

5. After chilling, shape dough into 1-inch balls and place 2 inches or more apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.

6. Bake at 375 degrees F for 10 to 11 minutes.
Transfer to wire rack and cool.

You will have about 36 cookies.