Blog Hop #8

Welcome to Mingle With Us Blog Hop

Hosted by All About Being Inspired, Happy Go Lucky, and Moms of All Trades.
Each week we will choose one blog at random to spotlight at the next week's blog hop.

Our guest host this week is Doberman's by the Sea.

Join in on the fun by following the hostesses in the first three spots and our guest host in the fourth spot.  Then, link up your blog's main page.

Have some fun reading new blogs and and making new blog friends.  Remember to show some love and follow new blogs.  We always follow back!!

Grab our button if you want to share our blog hop with others.  There will be a new list every Thursday, so be sure to come back every week.

<center><a href="http://allaboutbeinginspired.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="All About Being Inspired" src="http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m13/harveyusn/blog-hop-button-175.gif" /></a></center>We hope you have fun and thanks for joining us!  We are so excited to find new blogs, share great ideas, and inspire each other.

Dairy-Free Berry Cupcakes

 

These little treats are perfect for the lactose-intolerant cupcake lover! Just recently, I learned that my son has a milk allergy so I have been looking up some new yummy recipes that I can make for him. Not only is this recipe healthy but it is delicious too!

I got the recipe from this cute cupcake book:
500 Cupcakes: The Only Cupcake Compendium You'll Ever Need

Dairy-Free Berry Cupcakes Recipe:

2 1/2 cups mixed fresh berries (blueberries, strawberries, cranberries, blackberries)
2 cups all-purpose flour (I used whole wheat flour)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
4 tbsp vegetable oil
2 lightly beaten eggs


For the topping:
1/2 cup mixed berry jam


Directions:


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place 12 paper baking cups into a muffin pan. In a food processor, puree 1 1/2 cups of the berries until smooth. In a small bowl, lightly crush the reserved berries with a fork. In a medium bowl, mix the flour, sugar and baking powder. In a large bowl, beat the oil and eggs. Add the pureed berries and mix well. Stir in the flour mixture until combined. Fold in the crushed berries.
Spoon the  batter into the cups. Top each cupcake with a teaspoon of jam. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove pan from the oven and cool for 5 minutes. Then remove the cupcakes and cool on a rack.


Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days, or freeze for up to 3 months.

ENJOY AND BE INSPIRED!

Spring and Your Preschooler

If you are like me, I am constantly looking for ideas to keep my little toddler busy. We were in the dollar store recently and I came across foam Easter shapes...bunnies, eggs, tulips and chicks! Right beside them were foam stickers. My son is 1 1/2 now and is in love with markers and stickers so this was the perfect craft for him and me to do together.

For way under $5.00 you can embellish, design and create these little Spring masterpieces for    everyone's Easter Basket! They are EGG-CEPTIONAL!

We had so many supplies we were even able to package them up for some friends when we went over their house for a playdate!

BE INSPIRED!

Blog Hop #7

Welcome to Mingle With Us Blog Hop

Hosted by All About Being Inspired, Happy Go Lucky, and Moms of All Trades.
Each week we will choose one blog at random to spotlight at the next week's blog hop.

Our guest host this week is Ladybird Ln.  They have a fabulous giveaway going on now that ends Friday.  You have to check it out!

Join in on the fun by following the hostesses in the first three spots and our guest host in the fourth spot.  Then, link up your blog's main page.

Have some fun reading new blogs and and making new blog friends.  Remember to show some love and follow new blogs.  We always follow back!!

Grab our button if you want to share our blog hop with others.  There will be a new list every Thursday, so be sure to come back every week.

<center><a href="http://happy-go-lucky-harvey.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="Happy Go Lucky" src="http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m13/harveyusn/blog-hop-button-175.gif" /></a></center>We hope you have fun and thanks for joining us!  We are so excited to find new blogs, share great ideas, and inspire each other.

An extra measure of Grace

Have you ever been surprised by a conversation that just happens to occur when you are least expecting it? I recently had a thought provoking conversation with a person I admire. He has a wonderful way with people while being totally honest. He says what is on his mind and does not mince words. However, he has this way of doing it that still lets you know that he respects you. He does not anger quickly and is good at holding his tongue. He is a man that never exalts himself. Some of these qualities are ones that I wish I was better at myself. I asked him how he manages to deal with people in such a thoughtful and calm way. What he said really made me think. He told me that when someone is in one's family we have to offer them "an extra measure of Grace." That took me by surprise, hearing that come from him. So I asked him what exactly he meant by that. He explained to me that his thoughts were that when we are in a family we have to allow some extra room for people we love to mess up. We know they are going to mess up, they say things they don't mean, they act in ways that are sometimes unloving and they get us angry. BUT...they are our family and we have to allow them to mess up and be themselves, even unloving sometimes. What we have to do is give them "an extra measure of Grace." We are still going to have them as our family and we are going to have to continually deal with them, so this is his perspective. I thought about his perspective and the more I thought about it, the more I loved it. Imagine if all of us always allowed others that "extra measure of Grace?" Our world would be a different place! Our families would live in harmony, our friends wouldn't get angry at us when we overstepped our bounds, our children would forgive us more readily when we make mistakes and we would be more loving toward others even when they acted unloving. I actually like this idea! I have not been able to stop thinking about this concept since he verbalized it. I guess I have always had the thought that I would always forgive others but to extend that "extra measure" when I felt angry was something I had to get my head around. So what is Grace? Grace is favor or forgiveness we receive when we are not worthy of receiving it - the free and unmerited favor or beneficence of God. So can we offer Grace to others? Can we offer free and unmerited favor to someone that has made us angry? This is a huge challenge I will make to all of you reading this post. Can you remember that it is your choice to offer favor to someone in your family or one of your friends (or this is even harder) to an acquaintance, coworker or even a stranger when they offend you? Can you put aside your anger or resentment towards those that you love and even those you aren’t feeling love for and offer them that extra measure of Grace? I never said this would be easy but I did say I would challenge you with this. You can change the course of all of your relationships from here forward. I hope you accept my challenge today and remember to “offer that extra measure of Grace.”

Blog Hop #6

Welcome to Mingle With Us Blog Hop

Hosted by All About Being Inspired, Happy Go Lucky, and Moms of All Trades.
Each week we will choose one blog at random to spotlight at the next week's blog hop.
Our guest host this week is Organized Chaos.  She is new to blogging and shares some great craft ideas and yummy recipes.

Join in on the fun by following the hostesses in the first three spots and our guest host in the fourth spot.  Then, link up your blog's main page.
Have some fun reading new blogs and and making new blog friends.  Remember to show some love and follow new blogs.  We always follow back!!

Grab our button if you want to share our blog hop with others.  There will be a new list every Thursday, so be sure to come back every week.

<center><a href="http://allaboutbeinginspired.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="All About Being Inspired" src="http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m13/harveyusn/blog-hop-button-175.gif" /></a></center>We hope you have fun and thanks for joining us!  We are so excited to find new blogs, share great ideas, and inspire each other.

Blog Hop #5

Welcome to Mingle With Us Blog Hop

Hosted by All About Being Inspired, Happy Go Lucky, and Moms of All Trades.
Each week we will choose one blog at random to spotlight at the next week's blog hop.


Our first guest host is Melanie from Creative Art & Design:

Join in on the fun by following the hostesses in the first three spots and our guest host in the fourth spot.  Then, link up your blog's main page.


Have some fun reading new blogs and and making new blog friends.  Remember to show some love and follow new blogs.  We always follow back!!

Grab our button if you want to share our blog hop with others.  There will be a new list every Thursday, so be sure to come back every week.

<center><a href="http://allaboutbeinginspired.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="All About Being Inspired" src="http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m13/harveyusn/blog-hop-button-175.gif" /></a></center>We hope you have fun and thanks for joining us!  We are so excited to find new blogs, share great ideas, and inspire each other.

Blog Hop #4

Welcome to Mingle With Us Blog Hop

Hosted by All About Being Inspired, Happy Go Lucky, and Moms of All Trades.

Join in on the fun by following the hostesses in the first three spots and link up your blog's main page. Then, have some fun reading new blogs and and making new blog friends.  Remember to show some love and follow new blogs.  We always follow back!!
 

Each week we will choose one blog at random to spotlight at the next week's blog hop.

Grab our button if you want to share our blog hop with others.  There will be a new list every Thursday, so be sure to come back every week.

<center><a href="http://allaboutbeinginspired.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="All About Being Inspired" src="http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m13/harveyusn/blog-hop-button-175.gif" /></a></center>We hope you have fun and thanks for joining us!  We are so excited to find new blogs, share great ideas, and inspire each other.

Party with Dr. Seuss!

It's Dr. Seuss' birthday on March 2nd! How about a few creative ideas for hosting a child's birthday party inspired by Dr. Seuss himself?

This was a beautiful and tasty cake created by one of the hostess's friends. It is covered in red, white and blue fondant!

I had the pleasure of attending a Dr. Seuss 2nd Birthday Party a couple weekends ago! The decorations were bright and characteristic of the style put forth by Dr. Seuss. The games were right on target with a Pin-the-heart-on-the-Grinch and the cake was amazing! Could any little one ask for more?

Cut out hearts and put each child's name on it.
Blind fold them and ask them to Pin-the-Heart-on-the-Grinch!

With professional face painting and a whopper of a goodie bag, I'm hoping my friend Maribel will throw me a party sometime soon! Kyler and Luke, you have a very special mommy who is immensely creative! Many thanks to Maribel for these photos and allowing all of our readers a glimpse into her wonderful party planning mind.

There I am face painting one of the little munchkins. Notice the bright colored lanterns and hat giveaways!

BE INSPIRED!

Magnetic Book Mark

This magnetic bookmark can be made for teachers, at Mom's groups or just for your favorite bookworm! Have fun with stamping, layering, cutting and pasting with as few or as many materials as you wish!

As some of you may know, my Nanny is a super-stamper and card maker! She gave me this magnetic bookmark and I thought it was a really cute idea! I love that it doesn't slip out of my book when I am reading because of the magnets. See image below!

I hope this is a little tid-bit of inspiration that you can take with you today!

BE INSPIRED!