I love finding awesome activities for Mommy DIY.  Here are 11 crazy ways to make a turkey gobble with your kids this Thanksgiving holiday.  Click on the links and have some turkey fun!!  Bloggy friends, what is your favorite thing to do at Thanksgiving with your kids?

1.  Bakerella’s Turkey Pops.

2.  15 Different Ways to Make Turkey Cookies.

3.  Thanksgiving Turkey Luminarias craft.

4.  Colorful Turkey caddy fun.

5.  Yummy Turkey Sundaes.

6.  Gobbling Good Cupcakes.

7.  Feather Foliage Craft.

8.  Teeny Turkeys Appetizer.

9.  Put on a happy snood game.

10.  Thankful Turkey craft.

11. Rice Crispy Gobblers.

I have the joy of riding around town with a 2 year old, 13 yo and 16 yo.  The majority of the time Zoie and I are together zipping from Target to the park, but there is only one thing you’ll find playing in my van.  I just hit my 799th episode of Finding Nemo!!  I can sing every song with Zoie, repeat favorite lines, even sniffle again and again when Dory reminds Marlin to just keep swimming, just keep swimming, swimming, swimming.  Do you know how many life lessons are in Finding Nemo?  Well, I do…

I’ve counted every one of them:  Love conquers all, never give up, fish are friends not food, family is worth fighting for, obey your dad, don’t fall off the wagon, stay strong and courageous… fear not, don’t bang on a fish tank… the lessons go on and on.  I shamelessly admit, I boo hoo everytime Dory begs Marlin to let her stay with him despite his broken fishy heart “I look at you and I’m home”, or when Dory remembers Nemo after bumping into him and triggering her short term memory loss.

But, my all time favorite part of the story is when they are riding on the East Australian current with Crush, the 150 year old sea turtle, who helps the overly cautious dad understand that there comes a time we have to let go and allow our children to conquer life on their own.

snifffff sniffff

Everyone needs a Dory in their life.  Dory was always a motivational, uplifting, and encouraging friend to Marlin.  She was a happy fish, not a sucker fish.  She saw the positives, not the negatives.  She knew how important it was to help a friend and stick with them through thick or thin.  She saw life as half full, not half empty.  Dory knows that life is an adventure!  Ha!  Are you still impressed … I told you I watched this video 799 times!

Of course, I have to brag and let you know that Zoie knows more lines by heart than I do.  She adores Nemo and giggles, screams, and dramatically animates the story from start to finish.  I can’t wait to start up the van and swim with Zoie and the crazy cast of fish for my 800th episode!!!

What video do you endure enjoy watching over and over with your kids?

If you haven’t watched the amazing video Finding Nemo in a long time… take a peek at this short trailer.

Hannah made me delicious Pancake Puffs for Mother’s Day breakfast… I was so surprised and appreciated her spunk to try something new.  We found 2 recipes that you can try too.  I want to hear what is your favorite breakfast recipe (comments sisters!)

Easy TV Ingredients:

1 c. milk
1/2 c. butter
1 c. flour
1/2 c. sugar or brown sugar

How to make Pancake Puff:

Step1-In bowl, beat eggs lightly, add milk and flour. Beat with fork until blended but not real smooth.
Step2-Melt butter in 12 inch pizza pan or skillet.
Step3-Pour batter into middle of pan on top of melted butter.
Step4-Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Pancake will puff up in a peculiar shape.

Step5- Sift sugar over top, then cut into wedges with pizza cutter.  Serve with your favorite fruit or preserves.

A Few more ingredients + Traditional Pancake Puffs:

Ingredients:

• 1 level tsp instant yeast
• 1 tbsp milk
• 1 cup flour (100 g)
• 1 cup flour (100 g)
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/4 cups warm milk (250 ml)
• 1 tbsp butter
• Good quality butter and powdered sugar to serve

Preparation:

In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in the milk. In a separate bowl, combine the buckwheat flour, flour, eggs, yeast, sugar, salt and half the milk. Whisk smooth. Now add the remaining milk and beat again.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow to rest for an hour.

Melt butter in a frying pan. When it sizzles, add teaspoonfuls of the batter in circular movements to create the mini pancakes. Turn the poffertjes around as soon as the bottom has set, using two forks.

Serve Pancake Puffs with the best quality butter you can find and sieved powdered (icing) sugar.

Serves 4.

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I’m dedicating this week of blogging to crazy mommyhood.  As I prepare to leave for Haiti on the 11th, I can’t stop thinking about my kids.  Are they going to survive without me for a week?  These are the questions zipping around in my head:  Who will remember to turn the baby monitor on at night? Who will remember to buy milk before it runs out? Will Zoie be OK at the babysitters house (1st time?) Will anyone remember to cook dinner at a reasonable hour?  Yes, that’s right, I’m leaving my kids for a week with their awesome, amazingly fun, easy going daddy and I don’t need to worry about them for a second.  They are in the best hands and hubby will do a great job, even if he does forget to buy the milk.

One of the things I love saying to my 3 kids is, “Bring your drama to your momma.”  I always want them to feel safe to come to me when they have had a crazy day (there’s no such thing as a bad day.)  Teenagers have a lot of drama.  I’m blessed to have 2 teens, so we have double the drama at times.  When my kids bring me their drama, I have 2 choices on how I’m going to respond. 1) I can freeek out pouring fuel on the drama or 2) just play it cool.  Believe me, I have tried both sides of the game.  Not to long ago, my son and I were eating lunch at a yummy Mexican restaurant a few hours before dropping him off at golf camp.  Michael had just earned his driver’s permit and wanted to make sure he got in a few practice runs.  We had a great lunch, lots of laughs and plenty of time to make it home before drop off.  My son was in the drivers seat, backing up my van when all of a sudden he made a crazy sharp turn and crashed into something behind us.  My first reaction was to scream yell “SLOW DOWN!!” but it was too late.  We both looked back and knew this was more than a fender bender.  He backed straight into a parked car parallel behind us.  My van has a back up camera, but somehow this large, black car was missed out of sight.  The worst part was the frenzy that happened when 10 people circled us yelling different views of the accident.  This was A+ drama.  I couldn’t believe he forgot to look behind him before jamming the car in reverse, but I made a quick choice.  I reacted calmly to the mob and sweet talked our way out of the driver calling the police.  There were a few new dings and bangs on his very dinged up, banged up car, but overall everything went pretty smooth.

Michael apologized 100 times to me how bad he felt backing out too fast and it was easy for me to say to him, “Live and learn.”  He spent the summer paying us back for the mini collision and he learned to look carefully before backing up the family car.

I instinctively wanted to yell, but I didn’t. (this time)

This is why I love the lessons we can learn from drama.  I make mistakes everyday and I’m grateful I love a God who loves me and forgives me when I back up too fast in life.

Do you let your kids bring their drama to you?  I want to hear…

Vote today to make adoption #1 top mommy blog!!  Click button 2 Vote- that’s it!

I love making fun crafts with the kids, but this year Hannah is helping her little sis make a few fun things for Easter.

1.  How to make Speckled Easter Eggs-

2.  Beady Babies-  These baby chicks are so easy to make, you can have an entire clutch ready in time for Easter. View Craft

3.  Easter Bunny Cupcakes- You don’t have to grow a garden like Mr. McGregor’s to have a family of rabbits show up at your house on Easter — or any other time. View Recipe & video.

4.  Bunny Ears for Kids-  These cute bunny ears are a perfect Easter craft for kids. Easy to make, and lots of fun to wear, have your little bunnies go on their chocolate hunt in Easter spirit.  • View the full Bunny Ears for Kids instructions

5.  Chick Easter Card-  Everyone loves a craft that uses a child’s hands to create it. This cute and sunny yellow Easter chick card makes a perfect holiday greeting for Mom, Grandma or anyone you care about.  • View the full Easter Chick Card instructions

Do you want to cook something tonight that will make your family sing out your name- I mean serious cheering, clapping and hugging involved here.  This is hands down my son’s favorite meal in the world!  He begs me for this delicious recipe.  I hope you get the same results from your family!

Say-My-Name Smothered Chicken and Gravy

1 (3 1/2 pound) chicken, rinsed and cut into 8 pieces
1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
1 cup flour
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 onions, chopped
2 celery ribs, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
3 cups chicken broth

Season the chicken with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Place the flour in a large bowl. Roll the chicken in the flour to coat, shaking off excess flour. Transfer 3 tablespoons of the flour to a medium bowl and set aside.

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook, turning halfway during cooking, until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a plate and set aside.

Pour off all but 3 tablespoons of the oil from the skillet. Reduce the heat to medium. Add the onions, celery, and garlic and cook, stirring often, until tender, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle with the reserved flour and stir well. Gradually stir in the broth and bring to a simmer.

Return the chicken to the skillet. Reduce the heat to low. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is cooked through and shows no sign of pink when pierced at the bone, about 35 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a deep platter and cover with foil to keep warm. Bring the sauce to a boil over high heat and cook, stirring often, until thickened, about 5 minutes. Season the gravy with salt and pepper and pour over the chicken.
Serve hot.

Wednesday WOW sharing-

Bloggy friends, so do YOU want to share?   If you have a yummy recipe (for something sweet, or a main dish, or an appetizer…whatever!!), with photographs, you can join in on the craziness.  I understand- your family will think you’ve gone crazy snapping pics of your meatloaf!  If you want to share on my blog, email me the recipe and pictures! Be sure to include a link to your blog, if you have one and would like me to link to you if I choose your recipe.  Now, you know the rules- only birds (the turkey & chicken kind) or fish recipes!  For those of you that don’t know my crazy secret, I’m allergic to 4 legged creatures.  I will read over the submissions and choose a few to post on my blog from time to time so everyone can see them, give them a try and lick their lips for Wednesday WOW!!

So what do you say? Would you like to show off?

One more thing- please take time to vote for adoption!!  Lets make ADOPTION #1 on top mommy blogs- all you need to do is click on this adorable button & it automatically votes for My Crazy Adoption.  It’s so simple to do!  We need 500 votes to take the #1 spot- you can vote daily.   This is a public contest, so anyone can vote and visit my crazy blog to learn more about the miracles of adoption and the love of Jesus and celebrate family all in one spot. whoooohoooo!

I remember turning 13.

I was living in Waco, Texas and in the eight grade.  I wore big round “bug eye” shaped glasses and got braces mid-year.  It was the year 1980.  I was a new teenager living in the early 80′s.  My family was conservative, so I didn’t wear the Flashdancer digs, but I vividly recall my best friend, Jen buying me my first Polo shirt.  Looking back, I think I was an 80′s preppy nerd?  I went to a very small private school and was part of the “glove pep squad.”  I’ve been ridiculed by my children, so if you want to tease… I’m used to it.  Yep, I wore long green polyester culottes and flashed my hands back and forth, up and down at the football games.  If you are reading this and have a photo of me during my prime groovy glove days, please send me a pic!  I had a big crush on a boy name Steve.  Life was awkward and simple and fun.

Turning 16 was crazy!

I had my very first boy/girl birthday party and remember falling head over heels with a boy named Gibby who came to my bash.  He was a freshman, so I could ONLY share this secret with my best friend.  He sat on our family room couch in Phoenix, Arizona surrounded be cutie pie guests, but he caught my eye (OK he caught me starring at him)  I would have had no idea in a million jillion years we would fall in love someday, when it really counted and marry the man of my dreams.  My birthday party was the start of something really crazy!

It’s a pretty unique feat, I’ll admit to be the mom of a 16 year old, a 13 year old and an (almost) 2 year old!  I get a taste of 3 very different worlds, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything.  I love that my 16 y.o. can drive and pick up my 13 y.o. now, so my 2 y.o. can take a long nap.  At 42, my 3 krazy kids keep me hopping and I’m so proud of them as individuals.  Every day I make sure I tell them I love them just the way they are.  I make sure when I mess up that I say I’m sorry.  I make sure to kiss them good-night and forgive them for their messes.  I love being a mom.  It’s the most challenging, rewarding, crazy job you could ever sign up to do.

My very favorite pic of me & Gibby before a football game (no glasses or braces)

Prom 1985

A fun Flip video of my kiddos sharing why our Christmas Memory Tree is so special. You can make one too.  Watch Adoption Life LIVE #2 posted on the right side column.