If Motherhood Came With Report Cards ...

...my report card would have showed a BIG,RED, N! - "N" for 'needs improvement.' Or maybe an 'F' for failed!


It seems almost everything I did today could have used lots of improvement.

My mothering skills lacked, my "wifely skills" lacked, my diy projects lacked ... even my cooking skills lacked (ok, that wasn't really my fault but we'll get there later.)

(And I know that this post already sounds so negative, but it's not. Hang in there with me! :-) )

I started my morning late...again...and that in itself is never a good thing...ever :-(  It's something I've been trying to work on, but my bed feels so,so cozy every morning  :-) So, I'll keep trying till I get an 'E' for excellent in this area! :-)

When my morning starts late there is so much that just goes 'down the drain'...good attitudes included!

So when two of my cuties :-) got into a ridiculous fight about who's oatmeal had more sugar, it escalated and became an intense "discussion" that raised this mama's blood pressure.
If there's anything that makes me want to run away crying, it's this - These crazy little cat fights that are totally ridiculous and unnecessary and leave me with absolutely no idea what to do and how to resolve them at that moment.

And I really don't know how it happened but my day just went down hill.

I was not a Proverbs 31 woman in any stretch of the imagination.

My lamp shade that I tried to re-do gave me more grief than relief. (I think it's really cute - but only when the light isn't on ;-) ) It definitely didn't go the way I dreamed it would!

Frustration and selfishness,snappiness and crabbiness took over until I felt the need to "disappear" and put myself in timeout for awhile (my children found me, and thought it was incredibly funny that they snuck into my bathroom and found me - yep, that's a mom's life)

Why am I telling you this?

Because I believe in real life...I know what real life is.
It's laughter and fun, silliness, love,smiles & giggles,happiness - oatmeal with just the right amount of sugar.

But real life is also, tears and crabbiness, bad attitudes,selfishness and frustration.

 And the reason I'm telling you all of this is because here at my house we do real life. 

We do love and laughter but we also do tears and crabbiness. 

And here on my blog you will NOT only find the love and laughter. You will also see days that we get big, fat, red "Ns" ! Days that we fail.The truth.

We are not perfect but we are perfectly happy being a family. A family doing real life.

And tonight I'm so thankful for grace and second chances. Tomorrow is a new day. Tomorrow I get a second chance. Today I saw God's grace.

And now, on to my cooking!

 Tonight I made chili soup. It wasn't a hit. It wasn't great! And it really wasn't my fault. It was a new recipe, a recipe I won't be going back to :-) A recipe that I would say gets an "N" for needs improvement.

But let me tell you what did hit me a BIG 'E' for today - 'E' for EXCELLENT! So excellent in fact, I wanted to share it with you! :-)

Around here we love cornbread!! And I found a recipe...on pinterest of course... that is absolutely irresistible!

(I am TERRIBLE at food photography!! So just trust me! This was DELICIOUS!) 

You can find the recipe here. You will also find a beautiful photo of the cornbread! :-) And you really,really need to use the cast iron skillet!

The "blob" beside the cornbread...well, it's just a "little bit of heaven" you can put in your mouth!! It will forever change your life. Your kids will LOVE you extra, and you may or may not get an extra kiss from your husband if you serve this at your next meal ;-) So if you're in need of a kiss, it's worth a try!! :-D But even if you don't need a kiss, do you and your family a favor, a BIG FAT favor and make this! :-)

 It's good on fresh baked rolls, toast and just about anything!! and yes, yes, on cornbread. It takes cornbread to a whole 'nother level! (we will refrain from saying just how much I put on my bread) You will find the recipe for this amazing, Cinnamon Honey Butter here.

 There's snow! I know, amazing!!! The kids excitement is so cute! Tonight after we had them tucked in for the night, miss Hailey crawled out of her bed (without us knowing) in anticipation to see if there's any snow! Of course she had to call me back to her room and she told me she wants to show me something out her window. Her eyes shining with wonder was too adorable! Of course we had to call Braxton over and show him too.His reaction was pretty much the same. They were waiting for this snow ALL DAY! To bad it waited to come till bedtime!  This is one reason I have to be ready to roll in the morning.Their excitement will have them up bright and early I'm sure! :-)

Anyway, I'm signing out for tonight. I'm going to rest my body and start fresh tomorrow. If you've had a day that feels like you got a big fat "N" - I encourage you to take heart! Everyone has those days! Don't sit in the dread of your failure. Stand up strong, God is good at giving second chances!

"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."

                                                                                                   2 Corinthians 12:9