My Messy Moments

With a little boy whose favorite things in life are dirt, mud, and manure (in no particular order) life gets pretty messy around here on the farm.

Few things make this kid happier than a huge dirt pile to play in.







And then momma gets her messy moment. Seriously? You want me to wash these?


But that's nothing compared to a fun-filled day of working in the cattle barn.


That ain't dirt, my friends.

But the thing is...I wouldn't trade a minute of it for anything. Not the dirt or the mud. Not even the manure. Because this face?



Makes it all worth it.

I received information about Clorox’s Bleach It Away campaign and am sharing my messy moment for the chance to win prizes from The SITS Girls. To learn more about the messy moment program, check out www.BleachItAway.com. Sharing your story on the Clorox fan page gets you entered for the chance to win $25,000 and daily prizes, and you can grab a coupon for Clorox® Regular Bleach.

My Third and Final (Feeble) Attempt to Win a New Camera

I have been a member of SITS since the beginning. I was the second ever featured blogger and for over a year...the only featured blogger to ever have a picture along with their FB post. I ALSO coined the phrase "SITSmas"...lest we not forget. I don't even receive any royalties from that phrase, which is still used. But, alas, that alone isn't enough to win a new camera from those beautiful divas over at SITS.

So today I shall share with you all my third and final Halloween post in an effort to gain the upperhand in the Canon camera contest.

I give you...the Halloween collage:


And I leave you with the Russian peasant, which I know Tiffany cannot refuse.


And Mama Kat? Have I told you how pretty you are lately?

Love,
JDM

Of Halloween Past

It's hard to believe this is the 7th Halloween since I've been a mom. And as we gear up for a night of trick-or-treating tomorrow night, I thought I'd take a trip down Halloween memory lane. (By the way, as a mom and a teacher, Halloween on a Sunday night blows. Just sayin'.)

Apparently I didn't take the camera along in 2004 and 2006 because try as I might I couldn't find any pictures. I know Claire was a lamb one year, but for the life of me I can't remember any of the other costumes. Oh well...I wasn't going to win MOTY anyway!

Halloween, 2003. Cole was 9 days old. An angel seemed most fitting.

Halloween, 2005. Cole was a chicken. This was one of my favorite costumes ever. His dad wasn't nearly as impressed. Little Miss was a giraffe. Can you spot her? She's the one that looks really pissed off...

Halloween, 2007. Cole was a dragon and Claire was a puppy dog. This was the first year they both really "got" Halloween and we had a great time taking them around trick-or-treating.

Halloween, 2008. Grandma went all out on Cole's costume. I had 2 other costumes for him to choose from, but when I asked he said he had already told all his friends he was going to be a tractor. Grandma outdid herself. It even had working headlights!

Claire decided she wanted to be a cheerleader when she discovered 2 pom-poms in her closet. We even teased and sprayed her hair. She especially loved the tights.

Halloween 2009 proved to be a tough decision on the part of the Little Miss. She had decided upon a dinosaur, which was a pretty awesome costume. And as we took the obligatory pictures 20 minutes before leaving to go trick-or-treat, she burst into tears and said she wanted to be a princess. Had she said anything else, it wouldn't have been possible to make something so fast. But because she really IS a princess, with a closet full of princess dresses, a quick change was made. And everyone was happy.


Cole wanted to be a race car driver, which ended up being very easy. We stuck him in a snow suit and snow boots and borrowed a cousin's racing helmet. Done.

This year? The Little Miss wants to be Dorothy. Does she know who Dorothy is? Um, no. No she does not. All she knows is she has a pretty blue and white dress with matching hair bows. And she is happy.

The boy wants to be a cowboy. But I am sure that will change about 10 times before tomorrow night. Wish me luck!

If you want to see even more Halloween pictures, get some great blogging tips, enter for a chance to win a Canon camera, or just tell Tiffany and Kat how pretty they are...just click here to visit the girls of SITS. And then tell John Deere Mom sent you. Because I really want to win that camera.

SITS

Holy crap! The grand prize for tomorrow's SITSmas is a $200 gift card to Target! How awesome would that be to win...right before SITSmas. I mean Christmas! :) If you don't know what's going on over at The Secret is in the Sauce...high tail it over there and get involved! You won't be sorry!

The best appetizer you've never had

If you ask me what my favorite foods are, mushrooms will be at the top of the list. I LOVE mushrooms and don't discriminate against any: raw, canned, cooked, sauteed. I love them all. But my all time favorite mushroom dish has to be these stuffed mushrooms. I am submitting this recipe for the SITS recipe contest because it is DELICIOUS, easy, quick, and requires only a few ingredients....all things I look for in a recipe. Let's begin, shall we?

You need 12 portobello stuffer mushrooms (or 4 large cap mushrooms), mozzarella cheese, one small chopped onion, sage sausage, 8 ounce block of cream cheese, bread crumbs, and Italian seasoning. You with me so far?

First, brown the sausage with the chopped onion. Sprinkle with Italian seasoning.

While the sausage is browning, scoop out the stems and mushroom guts.
Once the sausage is browned, add the block of cream cheese.

Heat the cream cheese until soft and stir together.
Fill each mushroom with the sausage mixture.

Sprinkle each mushroom with mozzarella cheese.

Next, spoon some bread crumbs on top of the cheese. (I used Italian style bread crumbs.)

Drizzle melted butter or margarine on top of the bread crumbs.
Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes. (The large caps take a little longer, about 20 minutes.) If you want to crisp the top, just put them under the broiler for about 5 minutes. Just look at these babies. Are they calling your name yet?

These go perfectly with any pasta dish, steak (which is how we ate them tonight) or you can eat them as they are. They are very filling and so delicious. I'd love to hear your verdict if you try them!

If you want to see more SITS recipe contest entries, click here. Wish me luck in becoming of the 5 finalists!