lessons learned and a recipe

One of my favorite bloggers, Sarah at Clover Lane posted some really great reminders today for mothers in the trenches of raising little ones. she knows as a mother of 5 from ages 15 - 3. she is award winning at this blogging gig... and i know why. she is so very intentional with her writing and sharing, and certainly not afraid to share truths. i've appreciated and applied many of her ideas... oh and her recipes are awesome too!

there are days i feel so lost and frustrated as mommy to just 2 kiddos, then i'm reminded of so many moms out there with a MUCH fuller plate. so i drop to my knees and pray for guidance and strength :)

my boys going off to kindergarten in 3 1/2 weeks has me planning and envisioning a lot these days. {i've already made a long list of to-do's for myself while they are in school. oh it's gonna be so quiet and hopefully productive. {think = clean and organized} anyway, i've been setting my alarm for 6am to get myself used to being up early. it's also essential to my mood first thing in the morning to have a chance to brush my teeth and start the coffee before little fingers are tapping on my arm. cooper will sleep until 7 or 8, but mr corbin is an early riser like me and loud and ready to go right away. this also means i have to go to bed at a decent time at night. there is NOTHING on television worth giving up my rest.
this morning i made the boys turn off cartoons at 9 am and go outside to play. {mean momma} they whined and whined and moped around the garage for 30 minutes because they said it was too hot. i know it's only going to get hotter outside, so i insisted they stay outside and play. now i can hear them laughing and playing happily.

the lessons i'm learning are to be consistent, oh so consistent. and persistent and confident. and to fill my heart with God's truths and keep the faith that "i have this". i'm guilty of trying to simply keep them happy. i know this will do nothing to serve them well in the future. their being happy at all times is not the most important job as their mother. pushing them to do what i know is best will serve them well in life. challenging them, teaching them, praying over them and showing them video games, computers and cell phones are not essential to have a good day. my kids are already at age 5 getting too used to being spoon fed entertainment by technology. it's my job to teach them balance and limit their exposure now. so i'm working on this a lot. ***WE CAN DO HARD THINGS*** i love that saying and believe it. i want my boys to grow up knowing it early in life.
they are learning to unload and reload the dishwasher. they whine and says it's hard but they do it. they are learning to make their beds, put up their clothes, pick up their toys, scoop dog poop in the backyard. they hate it and whine about it, but it's okay mom. they need to learn to do hard things :)

okay onto the recipe. i got this recipe from Sarah at Clover Lane as well. breadsticks! oh they are good. I also used my bread machine to make the dough, but you could also use a mixer and your hands to knead the dough.

i was surprised how easy these were to make. and goooood! think olive garden. we will be making these a lot. if you try the recipe, let me know what you think.

blessings to all! thanks for stopping by my little blog today.
♥ amanda