Friday, August 30, 2013

Stroopwafels

I have an addiction to all waffles. I love them in the morning and in the afternoon (but yes, seriously), I love them in the evening--often with chicken! While out shopping, a few months ago I found these cookies. They are a chewy-caramel-waffle cookie that my whole family considers a special treat. The whole package of  them can be consumed in the blink of an eye, and everyone wants more.
Interestingly enough, to me, I went to school with the founders of this particular cookie brand, here's their story: 

EatDutchWaffles.com was founded by Joost Kling in the Netherlands in a little town called Noordwijk, situated off the coast of the North Sea and only twenty miles away from Amsterdam.

Joost first traveled to the United States as an exchange student and always thought Americans would fall in love with this native stroopwafels. He was right. After establishing relationships with the top stroopwafel bakeries, he expanded his business to the United States with friends and business partners in Utah where in studied years earlier as an exchange student.

Cool right? All the better for me to continue my cookie addiction as it is in support of fellow alumni. If you don't have a grocery store nearby that carries these delightful gems, you can go to the Eat Dutch Waffles website and order some to be sent to your door! Isn't the internet grand? Waffle cookies to your door! :)


I was not contacted by this company to endorse their product. This post is simply the opinion of the blogger.

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Things that are Pinteresting

See what I did there? Pinterest with interesting? Maybe my nerd is showing a little.
 Here's a look at things I've pinned lately. To find the links click the number.

These are the five latest pins. Don't judge me.

#1                                           #2
#3
Pinterest--no known link

Pinterest--no known link

Want to follow me on Pinterest? Click HERE

Monday, August 26, 2013

Kids, School, Advice

Image by Deanna
My own children started school a bit ago and I know others who've been going for weeks now and others are yet to start. But I have been looking for some sort of back to school traditions to implement in our own home and have established a couple I'm happy with when I read a sweet letter from mother to child. I may be the last person on Earth who has seen this but I'm sharing because it toughed my own tender heart. I follow the blog Momastery because she is witty and practical and sees all the good in the world and often provides that note of optimism I so desperately need at times. She posted about her children going to school and finally being home without someone needing a snack. Something I'm so close to I can taste it. :) But she also posted a note that tells a story that she shares with her children each year. I'll post it here, and you can also find it on her site. I changed it a bit for my children and you can change it for yours but I think that raising little people to care and look out for one another could be the greatest thing this generation can do for the rising generation under our care. :) I read it with my girls last night and we had a little discussion on what it means for us and how we can practice each day to help others.
Here's the letter as she posted it:

Hey, baby.
Tomorrow is a big day. Third grade – wow.
Chase – When I was in third grade, there was a little boy in my class named Adam.
Adam looked a little different and he wore funny clothes and sometimes he even smelled a little bit. Adam didn’t smile. He hung his head low and he never looked at anyone at all. Adam never did his homework. I don’t think his parents reminded him like yours do. The other kids teased Adam a lot. Whenever they did, his head hung lower and lower and lower. I never teased him, but I never told the other kids to stop, either.
And I never talked to Adam, not once. I never invited him to sit next to me at lunch, or to play with me at recess. Instead, he sat and played by himself. He must have been very lonely.
I still think about Adam every day. I wonder if Adam remembers me? Probably not. I bet if I’d asked him to play, just once, he’d still remember me.
I think that God puts people in our lives as gifts to us. The children in your class this year, they are some of God’s gifts to you.
So please treat each one like a gift from God. Every single one.
Baby, if you see a child being left out, or hurt, or teased, a part of your heart will hurt a little. Your daddy and I want you to trust that heart- ache. Your whole life, we want you to notice and trust your heart-ache. That heart ache is called compassion, and it is God’s signal to you to do something. It is God saying, Chase! Wake up! One of my babies is hurting! Do something to help! Whenever you feel compassion – be thrilled! It means God is speaking to you, and that is magic. It means He trusts you and needs you.
Sometimes the magic of compassion will make you step into the middle of a bad situation right away.
Compassion might lead you to tell a teaser to stop it and then ask the teased kid to play. You might invite a left-out kid to sit next to you at lunch. You might choose a kid for your team first who usually gets chosen last. These things will be hard to do, but you can do hard things.
Sometimes you will feel compassion but you won’t step in right away. That’s okay, too. You might choose instead to tell your teacher and then tell us. We are on your team – we are on your whole class’s team. Asking for help for someone who is hurting is not tattling, it is doing the right thing. If someone in your class needs help, please tell me, baby. We will make a plan to help together.
When God speaks to you by making your heart hurt for another, by giving you compassion, just do something. Please do not ignore God whispering to you. I so wish I had not ignored God when He spoke to me about Adam. I remember Him trying, I remember feeling compassion, but I chose fear over compassion. I wish I hadn’t. Adam could have used a friend and I could have, too.
Chase – We do not care if you are the smartest or fastest or coolest or funniest. There will be lots of contests at school, and we don’t care if you win a single one of them. We don’t care if you get straight As. We don’t care if the girls think you’re cute or whether you’re picked first or last for kickball at recess. We don’t care if you are your teacher’s favorite or not. We don’t care if you have the best clothes or most Pokemon cards or coolest gadgets. We just don’t care.
We don’t send you to school to become the best at anything at all. We already love you as much as we possibly could. You do not have to earn our love or pride and you can’t lose it. That’s done.
We send you to school to practice being brave and kind.
Kind people are brave people. Brave is not a feeling that you should wait for. It is a decision. It is a decision that compassion is more important than fear, than fitting in, than following the crowd.
Trust me, baby, it is. It is more important.
Don’t try to be the best this year, honey.
Just be grateful and kind and brave. That’s all you ever need to be.
Take care of those classmates of yours, and your teacher, too. You Belong to Each Other. You are one lucky boy . . . with all of these new gifts to unwrap this year.
I love you so much that my heart might explode.
Enjoy and cherish your gifts.
And thank you for being my favorite gift of all time.
Love,
Mama

Saturday, August 24, 2013

A quick round up

We are adjusting to school schedules and after school clubs and hobbies. Being a house of girls, there are a few wild emotions floating around as we shift from summer ease to the structure of the school year. But we'll make it through--sooner than later I hope.


Here are a few things that have been on the web this week:

--- Batman issues and all the OPINIONS. For arguments sake, there's this gem on the flip side.
There was this awesome tweet the other day:

Shane Nickerson @shanenickerson
"Your government spies on you."
Meh.
"Ben Affleck is Batman."
WHY IS THIS HAPPENNING TO US?  ::sobs, vigils, hunger strikes::
-Americans

---Do you watch Game of Thrones? Wanna name your kid after a character? Someone will.

---Kate is a real mom. What do you think about all the press her tummy gets?

---American Slang for Chinese kids.

---Molly Sims shares her to 5 tips every stylish mom should know.

---With the absence of most big box bookstores (hold on B&N!) indies are starting to pop up. Here are  a few tips for shopping at one. And please do,shop at one. :)


Friday, August 23, 2013

Vampire Academy Movie

 I forgot Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead in my last post! I don't know what I was thinking. I at first refused to read these books. The covers weren't my favorite and I had all the vampire plots I could take. Thank goodness my mom kept pushing them. I finally gave in and read. . .them all in a week. I LOVED them!! The characters are relatable (yes, even though I'm obviously not a vampire.) and the action and romance keep you turning the pages as fast as you can. I highly recommend that you read these books before the awesome movie comes out on February 14th, 2014. I know that's in conflict with Maze Runner's release date, but I'll be buying a ticket to Vampire Academy, then go back for Maze Runner. :)
Here's a trailer to get you excited: