Tomorrow is the 4th and I am pretty sure that most of us will be spending it with family and friends. Perhaps you will have a party and there will be kids there (hey, YOUR kids will be there!). Kids like treats and I just thought of something that would be totally cool. In fact, I am going to pick up the supplies and make them - Uncle Sam Hat Cupcakes.

Here’s my idea:

Bake cupcakes as you normally would and then when they have completely cooled off take them out of the cupcake wrapper and flip them upside down. The “top” of the cupcake will serve as the brim of the hat and the “stump” is the actual top hat-type portion. Set the “hats” on a tray and frost them all white. Then make blue and red colored frosting (use food coloring) and use a flat decorating tip to make ribbons around the hat. Then use a star tip with either color to make a star right on top of the hat - or you can brave free handing it and draw the star. I also think it would be cool to swirl some white frosting at the base of each hat and then sprinkle on red and blue sugar sprinkles.

In theory it sounds great! You know you want to try it! I know I do!

Yesterday while I had the kids outside playing there was a fly that kept coming near our stash of crackers. At one point the fly landed on my daughter’s leg and she said to me, “Mommy, bug hurt me!” She then went running off to her tricycle where she continued to play happily.

A short while later she came back up to me and asked, “Mommy, where did bug go?” I told her the bug flew away and then as she was making a mess with her crackers I told her to move off the patio and onto the grass because bugs like crumbs. So she did. And as she did she held up her cracker and yelled, “Bug, come here. You like crumbs. Bug, I give you crumbs!” Bless her heart!

Then comes today…

As my little one was outside playing a fly landed on her arm. I figured by now she would just offer it a cracker, boy was I wrong! She started screaming like that fly was ripping her arm off! She kept screaming even when it flew away. I told her she was fine and she screamed at me, “Mommy, bug hurt me!” So I told her, “It’s a fly, honey, and it didn’t hurt you. It just rested on you for a minute.” Her reply, “Ok, Mommy, fly hurt me!”

She then asked to go in and has refused to go back out all day.

I’ve been playing around with a blog widget called “Feedjit” for the past few days and it is pretty neat. There are four different widget versions that you can get for free from Feedjit. One will tell you who is visiting your blog and what website they came from. One is a world map that pinpoints different visitors. The other two tell you what content on your site the visitors are going to most often.

The only one I chose to leave up was the map and you can see that by scrolling down and looking on the sidebar. The others are all very cool though, I just didn’t think they fit the feel of this blog. I have, however, seen them on many other blogs and people seem to like them just as much as I do. So if you are widget happy then you may want to try it out too. It is easy to install, just copy and paste the code.

I’m really excited to bring you July’s Blog of the Month. Donna and I have known each other in the blogosphere for quite a while now and I just think she is a fabulous person who offers some great advice and also a wonderful product for all moms. I hope you will enjoy it!

I’m Donna…Some around the blogosphere know me as Nesting Momma. I want to thank Becki for honoring http://www.blessednestperch.com with blog of the month! What a wonderful gift and blessing!

A little bit about me…I’m a wife, momma of two sweet girls, a SAHM, WAHM and educator of my children. I’m part owner of Blessed Nest,Inc with two other wonderful women, Heather and Isabelle. We work hard every day running our company BlessedNest.com; home of the organic Nesting Pillow.

The BlessedNestperch.com, our blog, was designed to bring you the best of Blessed Nest and the best of the world around you. We are a community of Mom’s, Auntie’s and friends who have joined together to bring you our best! Our writings include topics on organic living, parenting, nurturing, breastfeeding, notes about the day in the life at Blessed Nest and more…We also write product reviews and host giveaways!

Our mission as a company is to clearly and consistently provide simpler ways for moms to nurture, without compromise to the responsible and ethical treatment of people and planet. Blessed Nest was founded in 2004 by me (Donna) and my friend, Heather Anderson. Heather knew that I was struggling with finding a way to comfortably breastfeed my first baby. She used her experience in childcare, design and sewing to create a gift for ME. That gift was the Nesting Pillow, a nursing pillow that answered all of the needs of a mom (form, function, style, safety, ethics). Having spent my pre-mom years working in the children’s clothing industry; I knew right away that the Nesting Pillow was something that would be a big hit with moms everywhere, so I encouraged Heather to take it to the world! Heather and Isabelle work out of the Blessed Nest studio in Brooklyn, NY and I (Donna) work from my home in Southern CA to nurture the company that helps families nurture their newest additions.

About The Organic Nesting Pillow: The Nesting Pillow is a 30” wide, 16” deep and 5” high quarter moon-shape made of organic cotton canvas, filled with organic buckwheat hulls. The unique attributes of the organic buckwheat hull filling assure stability and flexibility, while allowing air to circulate. This provides stable body support and proper positioning for the infant, making feeding more comfortable for both child and caregiver. These properties also make it beneficial as a sleeping pillow, for support during pregnancy and childbirth, and even to make lap-top computer use more comfortable. Each Nesting Pillow comes with an easily removable, washable slipcover made of organic cotton French Terry and a great selection of cotton print fabrics. Additional slipcovers are also available. All of our products are made in the USA and our buckwheat fill is purchased from an organic, pesticide free farm in the USA as well. We purchase all supplies in the USA when possible or from companies practicing fair trade.

A Note from a mom who has used our Nesting Pillow:
“The Organic Nesting Pillow is superbly designed and the quality is exceptional. The unique crescent shape conforms beautifully to my body and the buckwheat filling is marvelous. I have the option to redistribute the weight of the hulls to my comfort and my baby’s comfort; something that is simply not possible with any other pillow. This pillow supports my baby’s weight and lessens the mechanical stress on my neck, shoulder and arms, which I am so grateful for. I have tried every nursing position possible and this pillow clearly out perform the competition! The buckwheat pillow stays cool and comfortable even in the warmest weather and allows my baby to feed in comfort. I won’t have to worry about this pillow deflating or compressing over time or even attracting mold, bacteria and dust mites! The slipcover is very stylish and modern and I really love how easily it unzips to allow me to machine wash the slipcover. I know that I will be able to continue to use this pillow well after I have finished breastfeeding and this makes me very happy. My toddler is always wanting to hold his baby brother and we can now do this safely under our supervision by having my toddler sit on the floor and placing the nesting pillow on his lap and gentle lowering the baby onto the pillow. The designers have clearly thought of everything with this pillow and this pillow is worth every penny.”

Thank you for taking the time to get to know us!
Please join us in our journey at http://www.blessednestperch.com or pass me a note at donna@blessednest (dot) com

• Our new, re-constructed site home http://www.blessednest.com will be open for business soon!
• You may purchase a Nesting Pillow on our blog at http://www.blessednestperch.com as well. Just click on eco- friendly products!

Blessings,
Donna aka Nesting Momma

Thank you, Donna! We think you are AWESOME!!!

If you’re using something like chocolate chips (or any other candy type treat) in baked goods such as cake or cupcakes and you don’t want your chips to sink to the bottom then try this - add them to the dry ingredients first and make sure they get coated well. Then when you add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients make sure you only add a little at a time as you mix - this will keep those chips floating somewhere in the middle all throughout the baking process.

Now it’s your turn - drop a tip in the jar!

This is one of my favorite cakes to make. If you are a chocolate fan, this cake has your name written all over it.

Ingredients:
Chocolate Cake Mix
Ingredients called for on cake box
1 box instant chocolate pudding mix (4 serving size)
1 bag mini chocolate chips
1 bag skor pieces
2 tubs chocolate frosting
Shortening
Flour
2 Nine inch round cake pans
wax paper

Preheat oven to 300 degrees (tip: your cake will be flat if you bake it at 300 degrees instead of 350 degrees). Grease and flour your cake pans. The cake box will tell you not to use flour (most chocolate cake boxes do); do yourself a favor and use the flour. It will make releasing the cake so much easier and you will save yourself disappointment over a broken or cracked cake.

Pour cake mix and powdered pudding mix into a large bowl. Add the ingredients called for on the cake box. Mix well with an electric beater (3-5 minutes) until the cake batter is smooth. Stir in 3/4 of the bag of chocolate chips.

Bake the cake according to the package directions. You will need to add 10-15 minutes the cake cooking time because of the lower oven temperature. Start checking it when the box says it will be done. The cake is done when an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Let the cakes cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Turn one cake out onto your final cake plate. Turn the other cake out onto a flat surface covered with wax paper. Let the cakes cool completely.

Using 1/2 of one tub of frosting, spread an even layer of frosting on the bottom layer of cake. Sprinkle 1/2 bag of skor pieces over the top.

Using the wax paper, lift the top layer of cake from the flat surface on which it cooled. Carefully place the layer on top of the bottom layer.

Using the remaining frosting, ice the cake. Don’t be stingy with the frosting. I like my cakes with tons of frosting (sometimes I think of cake as the vehicle for the frosting). While the frosting is still soft, use the back of a spoon to make swirls in the frosting.

If your not happy with the way the cake looks when complete, just sprinkle more skor pieces on top. I’m sure you won’t find a single complaint.

Serve with a glass of milk - trust me; you’ll need it. This cake is excellent as a “leftover” too. The day after it has been cut, the toffee starts to melt in the middle and it resembles a delish caramel.

Enjoy!

Today we are talking about LIES. Most of us are or have been plagued by lies, some from just being a woman. Lies are destructive and defeating. Lies about priorities, marriage, family, emotions or sin invade our spirits if we let them.

What is a lie that you have believed in the past (or even currently), and why do you think you believed that lie? Find a verse in God’s Word to combat the lie.

I think in today’s culture it is easy to get caught up in the lie that money buys happiness. The lie that with money everything will be better. If you have “things” you will be happy. The greater your collection of “things” the more worth you have. It comes from the whole “keeping up with the Jones’s” mentality and it is so wrong!

I used to believe that lie. I believed it so much that it led to well over $25,000 of debt. Praise God I am free from that debt now and from that lie. Money and things didn’t make me happy. Having things didn’t make me better or worth more. I didn’t need to keep up with anyone. What good is it to even try to keep up when you lose yourself in the process?

Matthew 16:26
26 What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?

So many people look to money and to what they have as far as possessions and they base their whole lives on that. I think Satan likes us to think we are worthless without Gucci. I think he likes to make us think we have nothing without a brand new car. I think he likes to make us feel like losers when we can’t buy yet another $50 toy for our kids. But you know, that isn’t the kind of stuff we should be setting our minds to. These things are all in the here and now and they don’t give us happiness.

When I went through my crazy time of needing things and money in my pocket to look good I racked up more debt than I ever imagined possible and I was still not happy. I was not happy because it was never enough. And you know what, no matter what you buy in this life it will never be enough - never! Getting out of that mindset and out of that debt took a lot of hard work, but I did it and now that I know where true happiness comes from I will never go back there.

Whenever I think about this time and all I learned going through it I think of this verse:

Luke 12:34
34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Believing the lie that money and things brings about happiness and self-worth leads to storing treasure in a place where treasure is not meant to be stored. These days my treasure is stored up in my faith - the only true and lasting happiness there is comes from God.

*Read more Saturday Cafe Chat at Internet Cafe Devotions