MamaManagement

PUDDING REINDEER! Hello super adorable chocolate pudding reindeer! I mean seriously, these are too cute! I made them for my daughter's party at preschool and served them with powdered sugar donut hole "snowballs". So fun! They are really easy to make, though they do take a little time, but it's mindless enough work that it can be done while watching HGTV or Food Network…though I don't recommend wielding a hot glue gun with any shows you get too involved in--I don't want anyone getting hurt! Here's what you need to make your own Pudding Reindeer: - pudding cups - pipe cleaners - google eyes (peel and stick, if you have them) - something for red noses; I cut circles from red foam sheets, but you could use felt, constructions paper, fake berries, fuzzy balls, whatever. - scissors - hot glue gun Stick two google eyes to each pudding cup. Cut out your red noses from whatever material you're using. Hot glue noses to the cups with just a

Warm and hearty, this soup will fill you up without sitting too heavy or killing any attempts at healthy eating…and it's pretty darn easy. One pot cooking, which I love. A little chopping, cooking the meat and veggies, then it's just assembly and simmer time. Once I got things going, I was able to cut out shapes from construction paper so my kids could do a Christmas craft at the kitchen island while I cooked. Not bad. And if you like the taste of lasagna, then you'll like this soup. It's super hearty and the leftovers reheat well (though if you don't add extra liquid when you reheat, your leftovers will eat more like deconstructed lasagna than soup…which is fine by me.). It would also be a nice alternative to a pan of lasagna when taking dinner to a friend in need. Tonight I'm trying a new corn chowder recipe, so we'll see how that goes. I guess you'll know if and when I share the recipe! In the meantime, you can try out this yummy lasagna soup. S

Looking for a good book to give someone…or yourself…this holiday season? Well here's a great one: Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell .  I stayed up till after midnight to finish it the other night because I just couldn't put it down. (And yes, I was crying and had puffy eyes the next morning.) I absolutely adored this book. None of that "it took me 70 pages to get into the book" business here. I fell in love with these characters quickly and completely. I loved their multi-dimensional, real world quirkiness. I loved their honest teenage insecurities. I loved Eleanor and Park for who they were and for the parts of myself I saw in them. So, what's it all about? Eleanor moves into a tiny house, joining her mom, (awful) step-dad and younger siblings and begins a new high school only to be bullied and teased incessantly. But soon she finds a bright spot in her groundhog-esque bad days…and his name is Park. Their friendship develops slowly but becomes deep

I am a gigantic ball of stress. My shoulders are up by my ears. I have a tension headache radiating up from the knots in my neck. I will likely develop TMJ from my tightly clenched jaw. I am in an almost constant state of shockingly frenzied to-do-list panic. I yell way more than I find acceptable. "Help." I call quietly from the center of my being. "Help me, please." Somebody pull me out of this crazed state of overwhelmingness. Somebody take away my computer and my phone. Somebody take away the iPad and the TV from the kids. Somebody hide my planner and my to-do lists. Somebody grab me by the shoulders and look me in the eye and tell me sternly to just stop. Stop shopping online at all hours. Stop with the Christmas cards and the Christmas calendar. Stop yelling at the kids for being crazy kids and driving me nuts. Stop being driven nuts by my children only because I'm already overwhelmed. Stop with the decorating. Stop with the errand running and the