Pamelas Baking mix.

As I sit here enjoying my Gluten Free Egg Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie I am grateful for Pamela's baking mix. They have two versions one for Pancakes and one for Breads. Both are fairly interchangeable with flour in any recipe. While these are not cheap and I can make this mix on my own. It is nice to have a quick option when needed. We enjoy Waffles on a regular basis along with many other baked goods. People tell me all the time they don't know how I go without the foods that I do but part of that is because of products like this. Last week I make Thin mints using this instead of flour and they turned out great.

Domestic Goddess!

Chandler

Dylan

Elliot

Today I am feeling a little sentimental. I was able to attend a Field Trip with my kids school. As I sat there in a room with 700 enthusiastic children it came to me. I am so glad I am a stay at home mom. I know I may not always show it but I am glad I get to go on Field Trips, Camping trips, art exhibits etc. I am glad I am the one to take care of my children when they stay home sick. I am grateful that a work schedule was not a concern when my child was in the hospital. I am glad I get to do things on my schedule and not have to fit things in around each other. (I am in no way implying that myself or any other stay at homes moms are not busy beyond belief) I have no idea how I could be a mother and work. For those of you who do I admire you. Especially the ones who do it because they have to. I know how hard that is. I have always had a job of some sort but I have also always been able to stay home with my kids. I am grateful for all the family's I have babysat for that let me combine there children s lives in with my own. I am thankful for the night shift jobs that let me work when my babies were sleeping. I am thankful for Creative Memories that has allowed me to work as much or as little as I could handle. While my children have no idea how rare it is that they do have a stay at home mom or Domestic Goddess I am grateful that they get to have me. I hope one day people will stop saying "you don't have a job?" "All you do is stay home?" Yes all I do is stay at home and try to raise my children the best way I know how.  If you can find a more important job than that I would love to see it! The Angel pictures were all taken their first Christmas. Some people think these are strange pictures especially for boys but they have always been my favorite!

Chocolate!

So you  may or may not know (seriously if you have ever met me you know but since this is open to the public online you may just be reading this and have no idea who I am) but I love Chocolate! Love is not the correct term maybe in some romantic language they have a word that accurately describes the relationship I have with chocolate. I am grateful for companies like Trader Joes who have fair trade practices and put real ingredients into their products. Last year I read a book that changed my life. That is no exaggeration I am sure I will post more about the book soon. But my biggest fear in reading the book and changing my eating lifestyle as a result was that I was going to be told or discover that I can't eat chocolate. I had nightmares about this. I don't even really like desert unless chocolate is involved. Much to my relief Dr. Hyman who wrote the amazing book Ultramatabolism points out how real dark chocolate is actually good for you in appropriate quantities. To make things even better after finding out what foods I needed to eliminate chocolate was not one of them. I am Grateful today to be able to eat real chocolate. I was not a huge fan of dark chocolate before but after removing so much of the yucky food from my diet I quickly began to love dark chocolate. The bar pictured above is one of my favorites. It is also gluten free which is a plus.

Scrapbooks!

If you know anything about me at all you know my true passion in life is to scrapbook. This has come about for many reasons. I have always had a love of photographs and I enjoy the creative side of putting all the memories and the story's they tell all into one place. Nothing gives me more joy than to find my children looking and scrapbooks all on there own. I am grateful for this blessing in my life. I am the first to admit I may be a bit obsessed but I figure at least it is a good obsession. I know my children will always be able to look back at these albums and know how much I love them and have cherished the times that created these pages of love. FYI I lost count at 42 albums. I also make albums for other people. It is a special thing for someone to trust you enough to work on there precious photos. Yes I do get paid for this but I find I learn an incredible amount about people after working on there albums.  I am grateful for a husband and family that supports me in this effort. I see many woman who would love to create these gifts for their family's but don't because they don't have the support at home. If you ever want to come scrapbook with me by door is always open. It may not be clean inside but there will always be table space to scrapbook. If you want to start I would be thrilled to help you in any way traditional, digital, simple, elaborate. There is no wrong way to scrapbook!

Washer and Dryer!

 

Today I am Grateful for having a Washer and Dryer. With 5 kids in the house having a washer has saved me so much time. Up until last year we had to go to the laundry mat. I would have to sort the laundry the night before, get up early and spend 4-6 hours trekking back and forth from the laundry room, spending the entire evening or next morning sorting and putting the laundry away. It was such a huge chunk of time that could have been spent doing so much more. Now with these amazing machines everyone in my house has a laundry day and they do there own laundry and put it away. Laundry is my second nemesis after dishes and not having to always be worried about it and have to schedule my day around it gives me so much freedom.  To  make it even better a friend gave us a set last month that is much newer and nicer looking than the once we had previously purchased from craigslist for a whopping $80.

Dishwasher!

Today I am grateful for a Dishwasher. With the exception of 9 months, last year was the first time we have had a dishwasher in 14 years of marriage. I have loved and appreciated it so much. Living with 8 people not having to hand wash everything has been a huge blessing. To make it even better the kids load and unload it making my personal nemesis of doing dishes much less daunting.

I am Grateful for Hippie Schools!

 Today I am grateful for Hippie Schools! Since living in Santa Barbara our children have had the opportunity to attend two different "Hippie Schools". I call them this because they think outside the box and teach to the whole child not just train them to pass state testing. These schools have been such a benefit to my children allowing them to learn and grow with creativity and to think for themselves. This week I was able to attend two art shows. One for the middle school art class and one for the 4th & 5th grade play with your food art day. These are great events and I am so thrilled my children have been able to have these experiences.