Monday Blues

** Anxiety is not doing so hot today. It hasnt been for weeks. I'm hoping after January..possibly if more stress does not fall apon me...my anxiety may relax...or I should stop watch Panic 911 on A&E...my favorite or right up there station.

So I was thinking about people who have your basic or mild anxiety and a way to explain to them the difference would be your anxiety is scary frustrating and normal. Some even can cure theirs. Mine is Scary frustrating irritating degrading and abnormal. I thought of the perfect way to say it...but forgot it... I take pity on anyone with it. Basic mild,worse case...etc it all deserves a type of attention. They all work in different ways. But enough about anxiety untill I can get the right words out to express lately how its been haunting me and explain the difference between the different levels of anxiety.


I did two projects today. One that was me alone and one with the kids.

1. When my kids were younger...ok ok just recently they ruined a book but not all of it.  So I decided to take some of the illustrations from it and put them into frames and frame them in the kids rooms. Super cute. 

2. Cotton ball snowmen!  (Pics will come) I did a twist on it. I let them dip there cotton balls in paint. You could also have paint brushes and let them paint them. I tied ribbon to the paper (cardboard works better) but its what we had,to hand them up. A nice green. Makes the white pop more.

What you need:
Cotton balls
Kid friendly(house friendly) paint
Construction paper,cardboard or anything to glue your cotton balls on to make the snow man
Sharpie marker (for the face)
Black construction paper or felt for the top hat.
Paint brushes if you want to paint the cotton balls (We dabbed them)
Paper plates for the paint.
Ribbon
Scissors.
Glue 

And dinner tonight.... 
"Nikki's Creamy Crock pot Potato soup" From Allrecipes.com
Original recipe makes 6 servings Change Servings
 

• 3 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled (I did bacon bits,because I had no bacon.)
• 4 red potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch chunks (I used white,and 5 of them.)
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped ( I used minced garlic in a jar that I had.)
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 cups milk
• 1 cup sour cream (I used Cream cheese)

• 1/4 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 tablespoons seasoned salt
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley (I used dried)
• 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes (I did not use)
• 1/2 teaspoon celery salt (I did not use.)
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• chives for garnish (optional)

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Directions

1. Preheat a large slow cooker by turning it to the High setting and covering with the lid.
2. Place the cut-up potatoes in a microwave safe bowl, and microwave on High for about 8 minutes, until the potatoes are cooked and steaming hot.
3. While the potatoes are cooking, place the butter in the preheated slow cooker, and cook and stir the onions and garlic for about 5 minutes, until the onions turn golden. Stir in 1/2 cup of milk, and whisk in the flour until smooth. Gradually whisk in the remaining 3 cups of milk, and let the mixture come to a simmer in the slow cooker. Simmer for about 10 minutes, until the soup begins to thicken.
4. Stir in the hot cooked potatoes, crumbled bacon, sour cream, Cheddar cheese, Parmesan cheese, seasoned salt, parsley, red pepper flakes, celery salt, and dried basil. Stir to mix the soup well, reduce the slow cooker setting to Low, cover, and cook for 3 hours, stirring occasionally. Sprinkle with chives and serve.