The BEST Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies.

I think I bake cookies every month, if not every couple of weeks. Especially when it's cold or raining, but then again...I also love to open the windows and bake when the sunlight is pouring in too, so I suppose I bake as often as I can. Anyone else guilty of this?! The only *dilemma* is that my kids also LOVE to bake, and the thing is, they think they're really helping. And they're not. I feel like my life is a constant, "Reese, not yet," or, "Pierson, just be patient," while I juggle reading instructions, measuring ingredients, and helping them not dump flour and sugar all over the floor. But it's cute. And these memories are priceless, so lo and behold, we bake together often. 

Here's the recipe for my absolute favorite oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, adapted from Liv for Cake's blog: 

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt [I always eyeball this]
1 c unsalted butter at room temp [mine's typically colder than room temp but I warm it up a few seconds in the microwave and they turn out delish nonetheless]
1 c light brown sugar packed
1/4 c granulated sugar
2 eggs room temperature [I always pull from fridge because I forget to set them out!] 
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 c rolled oats
2 c chocolate chips [I usually end up pouring in a whole lot more.....oops]

Directions

-In a medium bowl, whisk flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
-In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter and sugars on med-high until pale and fluffy (approx. 3 minutes).
-Add eggs one at a time, fully incorporating after each addition, and beat on high for 1 minute. -Add vanilla.
-Turn mixer to low and add flour mixture, mix until combined.
-Add the oats and chocolate chips. Mix until just combined.
-Chill dough in the fridge for an hour (optional, and I did 30 minutes)
-Preheat oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
-Using a small cookie scoop, place cookies on baking sheet 2" apart.
-Bake for 8 mins or until edges are lightly browned but center is still soft and unset.
-Cool for 5 minutes on baking sheet, then transfer to cooling rack to cool.

I could eat these for breakfast, lunch, AND dinner. And honestly, I had two for my breakfast this morning. Make them, share how they turned out, and have fun baking!! 

PS: I never put raisins in these. I love the texture from the oats, but I don't particularly care for an oatmeal RAISIN cookies, so I just use a ton of chocolate chips instead ;) 

You CAN Teach an Old Dog New Tricks: Thanks, Nature's Recipe®

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #NutritionWorthWaggingFor #CollectiveBias

It's been a long time since we've allowed dog toys IN the house, but in the last year or so, we've noticed a huge incline in missing KID toys. Our Golden has always been the stuffed animal lover, but all of a sudden our Chocolate Lab decided he was going to be in on it too. Except because we haven't really had pet appropriate indoor toys, they were running to our toddlers' instead! I do mean literal running too; we would come home from work and they would bound to the kids' toy box, which houses eight square fabric bins. They always go to the center basket, and grab with their mouth whatever is on top: stuffed animals, plastic toys, dress-up shoes, ANYTHING! 

We figured it was about time that they deserved something different. Elsa our Golden is nine and Humphrey, the Lab is ten. They've welcomed each of our children home from the hospital so greatly, but well, quite frankly, we can't afford to keep buying new toys for our KIDS. Ha!

Well, also in the last several years Elsa has started to really itch and scratch at her paws. I've always known she has some slight allergies and have really wanted to explore new food options. We've been a little concerned that grain free dog foods just wasn't something we could regularly budget, so we were thrilled when a friend told us of the brand Nature's Recipe®. It is a highly affordable pet food with very high-quality ingredients AND we just discovered that Kroger, our continuous go-to grocery store, carries it! There are many options to choose from and each one contains NO artificial colors or preservatives, and is an all natural food with added vitamins, nutrients, and minerals.

My husband and I decided that while training our dogs to fetch the toys that they are ALLOWED to, we'd also hopefully better their lifestyles with a switch in food. I put together a super simple tutorial for y'all to create your own pet gift basket, and I promise, your pups are going to love it.

1. Choose a basket that is simple to your needs. We had an extra wicker one lying around, and the dogs know how to meticulously pull these from the kids' toy storage box WITHOUT destroying them--so we went with what they already knew.

2. Our dogs are Retrievers, so fetching is obviously in their nature ;) I can't tell you how long it's been since they've fetched a frisbee, but oh my goodness they were SO happy when they saw these!! At nine and ten, we are very thankful that they are still healthy and active.

3. Choose toys that you know they'll gravitate towards. Funny side story: Since she was a puppy, Elsa has always been obsessed with lamb stuffed animals. We always call them her "lambie" and she will make them last for MONTHS. My mom typically sends her one on her birthdays and Elsa will carry it around wherever she goes, resting her head on it and legit cuddling the heck out of it. Eventually she'll rip the stuffing out though, so it's been since September that she's had one. Notice the 'lambie' in this photo and just wait for the photos below. She's still obsessed.

4. Select a couple of items that are good for your dogs chew play. A little fetch, some tug-o'war... they'll be thrilled!

5. Put it all together and you have yourself (and the dog or dogs) quite the gift! 

6. This is the formula of dog food we chose to go with: lamb meal and rice recipe. This is largely due to the fact that their current food has lamb and rice involved in the ingredients so hopefully it won't taste too different to them. You'll see on the labeling that there are no corn, wheat, artificial colors or flavors and that it is high in quality protein. We chose this as the final gift basket item! 

I wish I could have gotten Humphrey (the Lab) to cooperate for some photos but he was WAY too excited and couldn't be still long enough. I've always called Elsa the model dog; sorry Humpty, I love you just the same!! 

All of the toys pictured were also found at our local Kroger, so we were able to purchase the food AND these treats all at once--win win! Nature's Recipe isn't a new product, but it IS new coming to Kroger retailers, and I want to spread the word for all my dog loving friends and family. You can follow Nature's Recipe on Facebook to stay updated on their newest recipes and coupons too!

What fun changes have been inspired by YOUR furry friend? I'd love to hear from you in the comments below, and you can use the hashtag #NutritionWorthWaggingFor

See which toy Elsa gravitated towards? CALLED IT! Also: we went to the gym this evening and came back a couple hours later; Humphrey was the first to bee-line it to the basket (which we had put in the kids toy bin) and he came bounding at us full speed, with the rope ball from the photos above. I am SO happy we did this, these sweet pups absolutely deserved ALL of it.Below is where you can find Nature's Recipe dog food at Kroger stores, ours was in aisle 14 with the bird seed + dog food and as you can see, there are a lot of great options!

A Brave Week

My husband had Monday off from work and yet somehow the week still managed to seem extremely long. Wednesday we both thought that it was Thursday and the end of the week dragged onnnn. The temps have been less than favorable, but on Thursday we reached 70's again and I was bound and determined to make it a GREAT day for all. 

I packed the backpack, grabbed the dogs leashes, and luckily also remembered my full frame camera. I don't remember the last time the pups haven't just been to our park that's across the street, and I forgot how much Elsa, our Golden, lives for water. The day was BEAUTIFUL, and while I Instagram storied it all, my husband texted and said, "Wow! You're feeling BRAVE!" The aftermath looked like all four of us getting insanely muddy, and the dogs getting bathed by me with freezing cold water in our backyard--but it the morning definitely won the GREAT award! 

One of my favorite things about the week was that I got to hang out with my friend Lauren and her son Jadon TWICE. I wish I had remembered to take a few pictures of THEM, but I'm so blessed by her. She's also the one helping me find motivation to run and train for the mini marathon, that part coming later ;) 

Our week also looked like slow mornings, playing Jenga, me having third and fourth cups of coffee, Bible stories, and by the end of the week, painting a solar system [ALL Pierson!] Oh, and Reese's all red she has declared the Red Sea.... Asa joked and said, "So he's our Realist and she's our Impressionist!"

 Reese also had ONE great nap day [she usually only makes it an hour] and stayed asleep until her "clock turned green," so I promised her popsicles if this could happen. That was also the day we went hiking; imagine that, she actually got wore out!

Okay last but not least. Lauren asked me a LONG time ago if I would run Louisville's mini marathon with her and I completely laughed her off. I have never trained to run, and my "good" runs at the gym have been 2-3 miles, TOPS. One afternoon, a rather stressed out one, I did four miles on the treadmill. Later I asked Asa, "Why did I do that? That was random. I don't even have a fitness GOAL, and I'm SUPER sore." (I seriously could hardly walk?!) I told Lauren and she said, "If you can run 4 miles, you can run further." So it got me thinking. I told her I would meet up with her one weekend and run outside with her and some other ladies, just to see HOW far I could do. That's the other thing, I don't think I had ran outside in years at that point!! To my disbelief, we ran 6.3 without stopping a single time, and I felt GOOD! 

My ankles and left knee did start bothering me soon after 3-4 days of running a week, so she and I went to our local running store Feet Fleet and had our gate/feet examined. I left with brand new running shoes and an insert, because two employees informed me how badly my ankles pronate--which explains the soreness and tenderness I've been feeling. 

Well, she and I planned for 7 miles to be our long run this week; after doing 5.3, 4.5 and 3. We made a new route and set out and oh my gosh, we did it. (She's done 7 before, but 6.3 had definitely been THE longest I've ever ran in my life). I am SO thankful for her pushing me and I can't remember the last time I've felt this accomplished. 

SO? 13.1 miles...here I come! I hope! 

Let's Dance

Women with kids, I don't know about you, but come eight o'clock every night, I. am. done. 

Like, I put whoever's turn it is down for the night, turn around five seconds later to hug him or her five more times, fill that cup of water, blow their nose, put socks on their suddenly cold feet, take socks off now increasingly hot feet, and then I fall asleep outside their door. Okay, that falling asleep part doesn't happen. I usually head to the computer, turn my desk lamp on, and get to work editing photos and/or reaching out to companies/respond to e-mails. You can usually find my husband in his comfy grey chair [formerly known as Reese's rocking chair], remote in hand, kicked back and ready for a couple of hours of unwinding. Sometimes I remind myself that everything I THINK is important after being mom ALL day, just isn't. And I join him on the couch, after grabbing my favorite fuzzy blanket, ready to potentially pass out for the rest of the night. 

Parents, I don't know about in your household, but our routine pretty much looks the same, every. single. night. 

Is that just us? We have a schedule, we have the things we each enjoy doing, we kind of separate ways, and we hunker down to do whatever we want to do. Sometimes that's together, and sometimes that's apart. It's eight years of marriage and it's not BAD, it's just comfortable. Comfortable is sweet, don't get me wrong, but sometimes, you need to switch things up. 

Recently as I tucked the kids into bed, (plural, because they each need me to tuck them BOTH in AFTER Asa has done whichever one)--I was missing him. Staying at home feels SO different than being away from him teaching. Because teaching, we were doing very similar things all day long: teaching 3-5th grader emotional and behaviorally challenged children. And we were both apart from our own children, but we shared a common thread. Now that I'm taking some time off, and my conversations are almost solely with a 3 and 4-year old around the clock, I miss the heck out of him! 

I walked down the stairs, probably hunched over because I was so tired, and I KNOW I was feeling ready for bed that particular night. But I came over to my computer, searched "songs to slow dance to" on YouTube, and started playing the first one that came up. I went over to the TV, turned it off, and grabbed my husband by the hand. He looked very confused, but was already starting to smile. I stood on his feet, like I always do, and rested my head on his chest. "What motivated this?" he asked. 

"I just miss you," I replied. 

We danced through the whole song, he spun me in a few circles, and then planted a giant kiss on my forehead. We exchanged I love you's, and then instead of going to the living room to crash and watch TV, we sat at our eight foot farm-table instead. We talked and laughed for an HOUR. And I realized that what was once a typical and mundane Tuesday night, had turned into the most amazing and absolutely needed date night. This is it: 

Marriage. 

Dating. 

Love. 

Romance. 

Exhaustion. 

Sharing. 

Caring. 

Vulnerability. 

Risks.

Eight years of marriage.

We had the honor of being a part of a friend's wedding this weekend and I was the only bridesmaid who was a wife and mother. As teary eyed as all the rest of the ladies were staring at the bride and groom, I looked over at my husband who was being the epitome of SUPERDAD with our two kids in the front row; trying to keep them quiet, rested, attentive, and to help them get through however long the ceremony was going to be without a ginormous toddler melt down. Of COURSE I was SO excited for our friends who were exchanging vows and sharing in communion with each other, but tears welled in my eyes when I looked over at him and his eyes locked with mine. It hasn't been easy. There have been so many arguments, so many selfish remarks and comments and actions [mostly on my end...ALL on my end???], disagreements, forgiveness being plead, grace being begged for, and just LIFE. 

SO MUCH LIFE...

housed in these eight years. And I looked back over to this gorgeous bride and groom and thought, "May you ALWAYS dance with each other." 

And I suppose that's my recommendation to all of you. When you're tired and feeling weary, when life feels boring and more than mundane, when you've wiped a million boogers and changed thousands of poopy diapers... look to your spouse, your love, your person. Take him or her by the hand and whisper, 

"Babe, let's dance." 

If you want to hear the song that has always been our absolute favorite, the one we call "our song," click here!