Future Envy of the PTA

Hello out there?

2011-08-19T13:09:00.000-07:00

I don't know if anyone still reads this thing. I've been a bit tied up lately. You know, with another one of these....

So, needless to say, there is no sleep and peace around here lately (unless there is a baby on top of me!) I have had time to make a cake for my sweet little niece who just turned 4... WHERE DID TIME GO?!! She had a Tinkerbell birthday party and I was asked to do her cake again this year. So of course I had to make a Tinkerbell cake! It's been a tradition so far that i make her cake, and it's quite the honor. I'll share this with you.

I'm pretty proud of it since it's my first time doing flowers or scroll work... and I stood on my feet for 8 hours making this cake...after just having a baby! Well, down to baby business.... his name is Oliver. He has quite a set of pipes on him. He has red hair like my hubs. His brother is absolutely smitten with him and wants to help me as much as he can. He's turned our life upside down. My heart aches to be with him while I'm at work. I never thought I could love my first child as much as I do, and I certainly never thought there would be room for another child in my heart. But, by goodness, there certainly is! I'm hoping to post some recent projects as much as I can. My sewing room is now inhabited by a miniature red headed boy, so I'm not sure if there will be much more sewing in my future. But, I hope to try :) Thanks for checking in :)
Oh, and here's more of my little men :)

Halloweeeeeen!

2010-11-02T18:46:00.000-07:00

So, we had an amaaaazing Halloween, and an amazzzing 2nd birthday for Biggie Smalls. I'll start with Halloween, and hopefully will be able to add more pictures later. Here are just a few. We attended Truck or Treat with my nephew that his preschool threw. It was really cool. Carter got to climb all over big trucks, fire trucks, motor cycles, jump houses and play all sorts of learning games. We found the best costume at Target, decided not to get it, and then at the last minute picked it up with a great discount!! This gnome costume was a huge hit and Carter loved every minute of it also. Hope you do too!

curse out loud

2010-09-24T08:03:00.000-07:00

I'm obsessed with baby booties. Really... obsessed. I didn't know about them when Carter came along, but he would have had a million of them if I had known. I love making them for my friends and thinking about the sweet little precious baby feet that will be in them. I feel sure they aren't as crazy about them as much as I am. Oh well.
Last night, that sweetness was thrown out the window. I usually use the Stardust Shoes pattern, which is relatively easy once you get it down after a few trial and errors. I found this new pattern and just died. I was so excited that one of my co-workers is having a girl and I could try it out on her. Love the look of this shoe. Hate what it did to me last night and this morning. I cut all the pieces the night before to save me some time, then started piecing it together and getting it so pretty last night. Then, the inevitable happened. I looked at the strap closely and noticed that a quarter of it hadn't been sewn in with all the other layers and could rip off very easily. Of course, this strap was one of the first things to be put on and I noticed this as I was doing the VERY LAST step in trying to get this shoe together. It was so late, so I ~~cursed~~ whimpered loudly to myself at my table and retired for the evening thinking that I would just not have this little handmade item in my gift to my friend. I got up and called into to work so I could work on my booties (I'm so bad!) and then set out to fix them. So, I tried to pull out the seams to the booties and ended up ripping the top portion of one of the shoes. I cut out a new pattern and started all over again. The other bootie was fine, but looking a little worn around the edges of my fabric. I trudged ahead. A little too nonchalantly. I sewed the fabric inside out. Of course. Out comes the seam ripper again. I sew it again, move forward, and make it to the next step in the pattern. Then, realize that i sewed that inside out TOO! Out comes the seam ripper again.... (ggrrrr!!) At this point the fabric is a pile of strings. Fix the mistake, get to the last step. Then I realize.... that stupid strap is in the wrong place AAAAAND it's STILL not connected to the fabric!!! AAAAAGGGGGHHH!! ...***insert steaming head here***...

Note to self- when you've worn the threads down in your fabric, your seam ripper goes into hiding, and you get so mad you start cursing like a sailor and then snorting- it's time to hang it up.

Ducky baby shower

2010-09-02T10:09:00.000-07:00

Phillip's cousin is having a baby. Nobody knew what it was, so we went very gender neutral and stuck with the duck theme. My camera's battery is dead, I can't find the charger (stillll!!), and I can't find the cable to connect my camera to my computer..... sooo..... my cell phone will have to do (again!!!)

Here is the diaper cake. Yup, it's a little lopsided, but only b/c I was just looking at it to see how the decorations were coming together before I took it to the shower. It was very plain b/c she is not a "frills and lace" kind of girl. I found a beautiful green ribbon that didn't clash with the print on the diaper, and then I found a ribbon of baby bottles in yellow that went on top of the green. It was my favorite part of the cake, but I think I'm the only one who noticed.

(and yes, that is an old metal helmet with a "medic" symbol in the background.... This is one of the little things that makes my husband so weird, and it makes me love him even more....)

The mother-to-be is not a girlie girl in the slightest bit. She is not the kind of girl you would slap a "baby sock corsage" on, or even a beautiful rose. So, I got a painted wooden duck from Hobby Lobby, hot glued a pin back to it, tied a ribbon around it, and used rub on transfers from a Mother's Day pack that I found. The only full word that was in the pack was "Mommy" and the rest of the words were cut up from other sentences that were on the page. It think it turned out pretty well. I think it's actually something I will do again if I need to. It was SUPER cute.

Wish I had gotten more pics from the shower. But, enjoy the pin and the diaper cake anyway. Thanks for checking in.

Carter is growing and changing every day. Little man decided to start potty training himself and started sleeping in a big boy bed all in one week. It's been a crazy ride. Can't wait to catch you up on it!

Chicken & Waffles

2010-08-11T10:40:00.000-07:00

That title in itself send my sensory issues overboard and my head spinning. There is a new place close to my office called "Dame's Chicken & Waffles" in downtown Durham. They are having their soft opening right now and I went in to get a check on how things are. The menu in our office had a lot of items that sound out-of-control-good. They also have a good variety of "schmere's" and butters that sound really great too. I got the "Classy Hen", and it was definitely one of the more simple items on the menu. It was a choice of a fried or grilled boneless chicken breast, a side (mac & cheese, greens, or grits), and waffle. It was beautifully presented, even in my to-go box. I snuck a peak at everyone's meals in the restaurant and it definitely looked promising. With a sweet tea it came out to $11.97. Way over priced for the product. Bring it down to $8 (without drink) and I'm definitely on board. The waffle was a good size, and amazing. It had a great tinge of cinnamon or clove. The chicken was fresh out of the fryer and was good also, but had an unexpected spiciness to it (but it certainly didn't keep me from devouring the whole thing!). I know the waffle and syrup are supposed to pair well with it as a bite together with the chicken, but it's just not my thing, and I just preferred to eat it separate. The syrup was yummy, as well as the chocolate hazelnut spread that I substituted for the usual almond that it came with. The guys running it were very nice and eager to make sure I got everything I needed. I'm looking forward to their grand opening on August 24th. Their extended menu looked great and I'm excited to try their salads and sandwiches. The decor was very pretty. It's definitely got some of the historic downtown Durham appeal inside with some beautiful architecture, and it's painted different shades of brown with soft blue accents. It definitely made me want to go home and paint my house. I think the place will definitely do well once they have a full menu and lower their prices. Here's to hoping they stay open, and then have a breakfast menu with their delicious waffles and some bacon!
A crappy pic from my cell phone of my take-out "Classy Hen" (I'm already loving the name!):

I grabbed a business card on the way out and their website is www.dameschickenwaffles.com
Good luck Dame's! Hope it goes well for you!

Last Call

2010-08-06T06:41:00.000-07:00

Sooo sad to be enjoying the last part of the VERY LAST JAR of my incredible Strawberry Jam I made this spring.....

What a yummy way to start off the day at work though!

Planning Period

2010-07-27T10:27:00.000-07:00

It's almost that time again..... birthday palooza and autumn!! EEEEEKKK!! This girl is soooo excited! The marching bands are hitting the fields for practice, and soon we will be able to go watch football games (not so excited), watch the half time shows (very exciting if you were part of the amazing Pride of the Mountains like I was!!!), and see all the beautiful colors in the trees. Paisley's birthday is August 18th. My sister's birthday is September 28th. My dad's is September 30. My b-day is October 2nd. (AND IN CASE YOU DIDN'T CATCH THAT, IT MEANS 3 BIRTHDAYS WITHIN A 5 DAY PERIOD!!) Carter's birthday is October 12th. This girl has got to kick it into gear. Paisley has requested butterfly cupcakes for her party and I've been scheming and planning already. I'm also gearing up for a train themed birthday party for Carter.

I love a website called youcanmakethis.com It has amazing tutorials and patterns that keep my creative juices flowing. They sent me my monthly newsletter that included several Halloween projects (EEEEEK!! That's another one to plan for!!) and it reminded me how close all these events are.

...........Seriously... let me catch a breath and back-track for a second, because I truly just remembered about Halloween!! Oh, the planning for costumes to do!! yayyyyyy!!!............

Ok, snap back to reality. That site got me thinking about all the fall decor that I love putting around my house and how there were so many projects I wanted to get around to last year, and never did it. I was sooooo excited about this little thing here from Beth's website that I went and got the fabric, stuffing, ribbons, and wires..... but never did it.

Insert big "FAILURE" here.

I can't wait!! Oooooohhh!! I'm so excited to jump back into it!! Gotta get back to work, but I had to splurge my energy and excitement somewhere!!

quick interruption of your day....

2010-07-13T08:15:00.000-07:00

Just taking another moment to completely gloat about how cute my baby and my niece are... thank you....

Gotta love Spider-Man sunglasses!

And to share what we've been doing a lot of this summer.....

Being super silly in daddy's broken sunglasses

Driving daddy's boat

Lots of lake time (which means this little momma has a tan for the first time in 3 years! Woot!)

Hopefully more pictures from the lake and the beach as soon as I can find the stupid cable that connects my computer to my camera!! (arg!)

Never got to post these...

2010-07-09T08:17:00.000-07:00

I wanted to post the pictures from the most recent Mother's Day because I just love being with my family. Paisley and Carter are growing so fast and they are such great playmates. It's hilarious to watch them as they enter a room together. It's like firecrackers! Carter starts squealing, kicking his feet, and yelling "Paibley, Paibley, Paibley!" and Paisley squeals back and always goes running for a hug from her "Car-Car". It's the sweetest thing! They all came to my house for Mother's Day and we ribs on the grill, fresh veggies, and a nice cookie-cake dessert (looooooooove it!).

This boy loooooves his rainboots!
(AND PLEASE DO NOT JUDGE ME BY MY KITCHEN!! WE STILL HAVE DONE NOOOTHING TO RE-DO IT, OR STRIP THAT NASTY WALL PAPER!!)

I love that she looks just like me!

...but she acts just like her momma!

This is my favorite picture, almost of all times! My mom is so good with our babies and lets them be wild babies, but has a good ruling hand if she needs it!

My little family :)

I have to post these next photos just because I have the cutest kid in the world and he has quite the personality. I've always had VERY curly hair. I use a good brush now that pulls out some of the curl, but I still have to use the straightener on it. So, I've always imagined that my youngin's would have my curly hair. Not so much. He has my blonde hair, but he has his daddy's hair line, hair texture, and hair "direction". It always lays flat on his head like his daddy's, and it parts the same way as his daddy. So, this girl was dying to have a curly headed day for Carter. So, I got it all wet, scruched up his curls, and then sprayed the crap out of it. He looked like a crazy fool with his hair standing straight up on his head, but I thought it was cute!

....and of course when I went to pick him up at the end of the day his hair was straight as a whistle and laying flat on his head. Gotta love it.

This is his new water table. He hasn't understood that you need to play with that water IN it instead of sitting ON it.

He has always sniffed like he was smelling whenever I talk about flowers. Ever since we've had dandelions growing in the yard he thinks sniffing is blowing. Here is he is "smelling his flower" and giving it to mommy.

.... my sweet boy :)

Yeah, we're still alive

2010-06-28T08:58:00.000-07:00

I've totally gotten out of the groove of making posts. Mostly because nobody reads this bad boy, and mostly because I haven't had time or money to cook creatively, or sew much. But, I will share some of our summer activities. It's been so crazy to have Carter moving and shaking soooo much more than last year. It's opened doors that I never imagined we would be walking through. Trips to the lake, trips to the store, spending time with family and friends have all been changed and rotate around what his schedule is and what his current ~~bad boy getting into trouble~~ activity is. We started out the summer with a trip to a local organic strawberry farm. I never pictured really caring about going to a strawberry farm that is purely organic until I saw Carter absolutely diggin' into the "bewies" (aka- berries) like he did. He could have eaten every single berry in that place! I never knew we had such a wonderful "you pick it" organic farm near us. Isley Farms in Burlington, NC is just amazing. The people working the farm are just awesome, and gave Carter a book about Strawberry picking and stickers. Here are some pics:

We finally got home with our delicious strawberries and promptly decided to dig into the amazing ice-cream they manufactured with their yummy berries. This was Carter's first go with ice-cream, and ..... well..... let's just say he was NOT so happy when I had to take it away from him. I was going to put up a picture of the damage we did to that ice-cream but smartly decided against it :)

Sweet little face dripping with ice-cream!

I've been reading throughout "blog world" for several summers now about how wonderful "freezer jam" is and how incredibly yummy it is. I've always had this "southern girl" desire to learn how to make jams, jellies, and learn how to pickle, but never thought I could do it. Boy was I wrong. This was so easy and soooo yummy!! I could not believe the beautiful red rubbies this recipe made. I tried to take pictures of it to show how bright this jelly was, espcecially in comparison to store bought jelly, but the pictures do it no justice. I've definitely decided that next year will be a year to furociously pick as many berries (of any kind!) as possible and to make this freezer jam as much as possible. I looove opening my freezer and seeing these little beauties inside. It makes me a very happy girl.

Here is the recipe from the "Sure Jell" website (AND CAN I PLEASE TAKE A MINUTE TO STRESS AGAIN HOW EASY THIS WAS TO MAKE AND HOW FREAKIN' DELICIOUS IT WAS!!!):

3-1/4 cups prepared fruit (buy about 2 qt. fully ripe strawberries)

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1 box MCP Pectin

1 cup corn syrup

4-1/2 cups sugar, measured into separate bowl

RINSE clean plastic containers and lids with boiling water. Dry thoroughly.

CRUSH strawberries thoroughly, one layer at a time. Measure exactly 3-1/4 cups crushed strawberries into large bowl. Stir in lemon juice. Stir in pectin; let stand 30 min., stirring every 5 min. Stir in corn syrup. Gradually add sugar, stirring until well blended. Stir an additional 3 min. or until sugar is completely dissolved and no longer grainy. (A few sugar crystals may remain.)

FILL all containers immediately to within 1/2 inch of tops. Wipe off top edges of containers; immediately cover with lids. Let stand at room temperature 24 hours. Jam is now ready to use. Store in refrigerator up to 3 weeks or freeze extra containers up to 1 year. Thaw in refrigerator before using.

I had a wonderful reason to do a little bit of sewing again. Not as much as I wanted to do, but a little more. Another one of my friends was expecting a baby girl, the first in my group of friends- woooot! So, I finally got to bust out the pinks and purples. I wish I had known how to sew when Paisley came around.... well... maybe not, because that girl would have been spoiled 10 times more than she is now!! We had a beautiful lunch at "The Weathervane" in Chapel Hill. The did a wonderful job setting up the area and having great helpers for me to decorate, and to serve. We sat out on the patio next to a beautiful fountain. I got to do a beautiful pink and orange themed shower. I wish I had done it up a little more on the pink because I'm not sure if I'll ever get to do it again! Here are some pics from the shower and the quilt and baby booties I made. If you are a professional quilt maker you will probably cringe because it is far from perfect, but I loooooved the fabric and the colors together. It made me cry when I saw baby Avery in a picture wrapped up in this little blanket. It did

Here are the cupcakes, pre transit. They were so pretty wrapped in that beautiful cupcake wrapper. Then, they slid allllll over the place and got DESTROYED before I even made it to the venue.

I found some really cute platters at Target and hot glued coordinating pink and orange ribbons to them to help tie in the color scheme. I used the same ribbon on "sand buckets" that I also found at Target and put a little votive in. You can see how the cupcakes were mooshed and destroyed.... so disappointing!!

Here is little momma in the middle with another one of our friends who is also expecting and

her sister-in-law.

A few present pictures (also with little momma's cutie patootie son):

The beautiful letters for Miss Avery's room:

And a group shot of us girls:

Pre- Mother's Day hilarity

2010-05-07T07:53:00.000-07:00

And again, another post about how I'm sorry I'm crazy busy these days and haven't been able to post anything. I'm currently planning a baby shower for one of my best high school friends, Kristen. We have a great restaurant and I'm going to be able to decorate a little more than I could at the Cheesecake Factory where we held Jaime's baby shower last month. I'm looking forward to getting creative and being able to see my friends again.
Mom has a yard sale this weekend at her house. How funny is it that we are purging all of our teenager and kid's stuff that's still at her house so she can finally have 2 rooms free of her kids crap on the weekend of Mother's Day?! A little ironic and funny don't you think ;)

Anyway, here's a little song for you that made me cringe a little, but also made me laugh A LOT!! Enjoy!

one extra little thing.....

2010-04-16T10:35:00.000-07:00

OH!!! I almost forgot to let you know.... if you cake decorating people haven't seen this yet, hold onto your toilet paper, because your about to pee yourself.........
My most covetted machine ~~that I will never be able to get or afford~~ has come out with a new product!! The Cricut is now out for cakes!!!! ..... take it in..... that's right.... it cuts fondant and gum paste...... I KNOW!!!!! I'M.IN.LOOOOOOVE.!!!!!!!!

Here are some pics from the "Cricut Cake" website:

Ok.... that's enough stealing of their pictures.... GO TO THEIR WEBSITE!!!! Also, check out this corny little video of the DIY girls demonstrating the machine. Now, I'm going to go change my pants again.... excuse me......

Ganache Greatness

2010-04-16T10:23:00.000-07:00

As I stated on my last post, I made my first "fancy" cake with ganache, and tried the Chocolate Cake from Whisk Kid's blog (my new favorite blog by the way). It was soooo good. I couldn't use her icing due to the whole "raw egg" factor and certain health issues some of my co-workers are having right now. So, I used the "Quick Vanilla Buttercream" recipe that I found on the Food Network site and it turned out really well. I also used Whisk Kid's Peanut Butter Ganache recipe, but added 1/2 cup more peanut butter because I wanted the PB taste to sing a little more. Her picture of the cake was just gorgeous, but I'm still starting out and needing a little (as in a whole heck of a lot) more practice to get to her level. Her ganache called for dark chocolate, so I used Hershey's Dark Chocolate Chips. I had some left over and didn't have time to make the chocolate curls so I threw those on top.... don't judge me!
The cake was insanely delicious and I will make it for all other chocolate cakes in the future. I really enjoyed the ganache, too. It got the wheels in my head turning about how to make it mocha flavored next time.
Here's the pictures.... and yes.... the cake is a little lopsided and not iced perfectly but it was crazy late and "Biggie Smalls" was having a rough night so I didn't have time to purty' it up like I wanted to.

My co-workers are still fighting for this very last piece of cake. I wont lie, it makes me feel good! Heeh heeh! I know the last 2 pics are a little gross, and not "blog beautiful" but I thought it was hilarious how these 7 women tore this cake up! The last picture shows the ganache in the middle above the icing layer. The recipe made A TON of ganache and I wished I had used more, but I was afraid of it squishing out and being gross.
Check out Whisk Kid's blog for the recipes and also see her insanely gorgeous rainbow cake that is the next task on my list.

cake trials

2010-04-15T11:16:00.000-07:00

I made my first "fancy" cake last night. It turned out pretty good. It was supposed to look like this (from Whisk Kid's blog):

.... but suffice to say it did not. But it still tasted delicious. Little man is good, we are good, things are good. I'm a little bit out of my mind with work and having to move my office since our satellite office is closing. I thought I was originally going to have to work out of the Pittsboro office (an hour and a half commute) but I begged my boss and the agency has graciously allowed me to work out of the downtown Durham (insert gun shots, pepper spray, and scream sounds here) office, which will "only" be an hour commute. I'll take it over not having a job at this point. We're supposed to move tomorrow. I have no boxes packed.... NONE. It's my own person protest. Needless to say it's not getting me far.
I'll post pics and reviews of this cake when I get a little more settled. Love you all. Thanks for checking in!

OUTRAGEOUSLY Deeeelicioius Sugar Cookies

2010-03-29T18:25:00.000-07:00

These are the cookies I used for the Valentine's Day cookies I made. They were insanely delicious and buttery. And again.... note to self.... THESE ARE NOT GOOD COOKIE CUTTER COOKIES! They spread out too much for cutters. Holy Hannah these are soooo good! You can find them at All Recipes:

Chewy Sugar Cookies

Ingredients

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups margarine
2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 cup white sugar for decoration

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
In a large bowl, cream together the margarine and 2 cups sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla. Gradually stir in the dry ingredients until just blended. Roll the dough into walnut sized balls and roll the balls in remaining 1/4 cup of sugar. Place cookies 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets and flatten slightly.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, until lightly browned at the edges. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Half Hour Chicken Gumbo

2010-03-26T07:48:00.000-07:00

This is a little late, but I really got into the Mardi Gras spirit this year and made some REALLLLY yummy gumbo this year. I found a "Half Hour Chicken Gumbo" recipe on Martha Stewart's website. It used a roaster chicken from the grocery store, and it was quite simple and easy. After it cooked it looked really gross and "grey" so I added a large can of crushed tomatoes to it. I don't remember any gumbo I've ever eaten being the color it was before the extra tomatoes, and I was sooo glad I added them. It was delicious!! Here are my pictures from my meal:

Here's the recipe and the picture from her website!

Half-Hour Chicken Gumbo

Serves 4

3 tablespoons vegetable oil, such as safflower
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 red bell peppers (ribs and seeds removed), chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 teaspoon dried oregano
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 package (10 ounces) frozen cut okra
8 ounces smoked (precooked) andouille sausage, halved lengthwise and sliced 1 inch thick
1 rotisserie chicken (about 2 1/2 pounds), skin and bones removed, meat shredded (about 4 cups)
Store-bought or homemade cornbread, for serving (optional)

Directions

In a 5-quart Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot, heat oil over medium. Add flour, and cook, whisking constantly, until pale golden, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in bell peppers, onion, garlic, and oregano; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are crisp-tender, 10 to 12 minutes.
Add 4 cups water; stir in okra and sausage. Bring to a boil. Stir in shredded chicken, and warm through, 1 to 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper; if desired, serve with cornbread.

Last ditch effort!

2010-03-25T12:17:00.000-07:00

I'm such a bad mommy! I haven't done anything for spring yet! I haven't decorated one single thing, bought anything for Carter's Easter basket, or even gotten him his Easter outfit! I'm horrrrrrible! This weekend will be my "Spring Cleaning Weekend" (hahah!! ...right!~) and hopefully getting SOMETHING decorated for Easter. Wish me luck! I'll post pics soon!

And a special something for my friend Jaime......

I loooooove you!! I loooove that little Chase, and I love that little Mason already! I'll be thinking of you Monday as you go in for your c-section!!

"Before I was a Mom"
Author Unknown

Before I was a Mom
I slept as late as I wanted and never worried about how late I got into bed
I brushed my hair and my teeth everyday
I ate meals while they were still hot
I wore clothes that had no stains

Before I was a Mom
I never looked into teary eyes and cried
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin
I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep
I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put it down

Before I was a Mom
I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much
I never knew that I could love someone so much
I never knew I would love being a Mom
I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body

Before I was a Mom
I didn't know how special it could feel to nurse a hungry baby
I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so important and happy
I had never known the warmth, the joy, the love, the heartache, the wonderment or the satisfaction of being a Mom.
I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much before I was a Mom.

Bathtub paints

2010-03-22T06:27:00.000-07:00

Carter is loving bath time and I'm all about it too. I'm trying to get him comfortable enough to lay on his belly and he's doing quite well! We're signing up for swim classes in our town for April and I'm crazy excited for it. They are pretty cheap and good timing with my work schedule. ..... back to my point.... I've been trying to extend Carter's time in the water as much as possible so he will love swimming this summer at our place at the lake or the beach. I made some really cool bath paints for him from a recipe that I found at "Children's Learning Activities" blog. It was free b/c we had all the supplies on hand. It's pretty easy to clean up as long as you don't let it sit and dry. It hasn't stained anything yet, but we move our white bathroom rug, and white shower curtain out of the way just in case :) Sorry for the poor picture quality. Phillip's BB phone doesn't have the best camera.
(I do have to mention that I have to make sure little man is rinsed REALLLLLY well after using this or his eczema acts up.... just a "note to self"...)

Here is the recipe, courtesy of the above mentioned blog:

Recipe:

1 T cornstarch

2 T liquid soap (shampoo, body wash, etc)

food coloring

Mix cornstarch and soap together. I usually double or triple the recipe. Then add a few drops of food coloring to get the desired color. Last time I did it I did 2 T cornstarch and 3 of soap and it turned out fine.

Green boots

2010-03-19T06:27:00.000-07:00

My parents have been joking with me about putting Carter in his green boots and saying that I'm a crazy woman for doing it, but I have to share with you how cute he is in his boots! Obviously, the outfit he came home from daycare in on St. Patty's Day did not accentuate his cuteness at all!! So, here ya go! Here's my sweet boy!

And here's a few extra to show you his new favorite activity. I have a stack of books in my car for him to read whenever he's riding with us and he looooooves it!! I got a few cute pics of him the other day when we were stopped a stop sign. I could just eat this boy up!! OOOOH!!! You can also see how crazy his hair was before we cut it!

This is his FAVORITE book too. It's a Sesame Street book called "Bubbles Bubbles" and Carter is in love with it. He calls Elmo "MoMo" and says "bubbles" and "pop" over and over again!

St. Patty's Day & a haircut

2010-03-18T08:25:00.000-07:00

Little man is 17 months this month. He had not had a hair cut yet, and he was growing quite the gnarly rat tail, crazy triangle bangs, and long shabbys over his ears. But, on the bright side, he was getting the cuuuutest curls! That boy is genetically allllllll my husband's side of the family, so I smile that he got my blond hair, and was really loving that he has my curls. But, at last, it was time for a hair cut. I really wanted to go to "Peak-A-Doo" in Durham to get it cut, but just could not bring myself to spend that much money when we have a pair of clippers here. It actually turned out fantastic. Phillip was so proud of himself for doing such a good job, and the fact that he got to do Carters "1st haircut" made him crazy excited too. All he could talk about the rest of the night was that haircut. It was quite cute! Here are the before pictures. It's the most recent ones I have of him and they aren't meant to be "hair shots" but it's the best I have. I was really just trying to capture how cute he was just running around in his diaper and long socks :)

Tell me these boys don't have matching head shapes!!!... I dare ya! ;)

The finished product and a happy daddy!

Now, he's soooo over being strapped to a chair!

Yesterday was St. Patrick's Day, and I was planning on actually being a good wife and putting my previous experiences with Phillip's favorite meal, corned beef and cabbage, and trying it again. But, thank the Lord, his mother decided to make it for him! Wheeeew!~ So, instead, we did sort of an Italian take on an Irish day. Wednesdays are "Sketti-Wednesday" nights, and I can't break that tradition because it throws my ENTIRE week off. So, I present to you Irish-Italian Dinner:

"AKA- Green Spaghetti and Sauce"

I'll admit, it looked kinda creepy, especially once the sauce got mixed in, but it was very fun and something I will keep in mind for the future when we're really digging into teaching colors. All I did was throw in a little food dye with the noodles while they were boiling! Easy Peasy!

Little Man certainly didn't seem to mind it!

I'm always up for doing a theme for anything for any type of holiday, so the dinner was fun, and so was dressing Carter in all green yesterday. He was adorable with his green shirt, jeans, and green patent-leather boots I found him at Walmart. I know, they sound absolutely hideous, but they are sooooo fun, and ADDOOOOORABLE!! He looked so cute when I dropped him off! My little Irish-man! (*insert gushing momma here!**) So, I went to pick him up and noticed that some kid was running around in the hallway with a teacher with the most crackhead outfit on. I kept moving on my merry way thinking "Geez, poor kid!" until that kid turned around, yelled "momma!" at me and then came running towards me. That poor kid was mine! Oh Mercy! I usually end up sending sets of clothes to the daycare for backups when Carter has an accident. They obviously did not see that they were matching sets, b/c my kid was wearing his brown Christmas shirt that says "Not an Elf", some baby-blue and white striped pants, and his crazy green boots. It was quite the site to behold. I had grand plans on taking him to the park to play after daycare as a surprise, but I just couldn't bring myself to take him in public. I just knew I would get "looks" from all the momma's.... "what was she thinking!!...... That poor baby!" So, instead, we went home, and we played on the back deck. We can prop it open and close the gate to the stairs down to the yard, and I can watch him while I'm cooking. This works out pretty well for us, and it gives Carter a chance to be a wild-man. Here are some pics of him outside in his outfit:

Absolutely Crazzzzy!

Does he not look like one of those crazy strong man lifting dumb-bells!!?? Hammer-pants and all!!

.... And no, that is no nasty used trash can he is playing in!! He's COMPLETELY obsessed with putting stuff in our trash, so we got him one of his own so he will stop throwing our stuff away!

Holy Cannelini beans... that is good!

2010-03-17T07:01:00.000-07:00

I've had this recipe marked under my "favorites" bar for a long time, but I've been waiting for ~~ground turkey to go on sale~~ the right day to make it. I finally got around to making it last night and oh my goodness it is sooooo good! It was actually pretty easy and fast to make, and not too expensive b/c I had most of the stuff in stock besides the ground turkey. I was surprised how brothy this soup was b/c the pictures doesn't show very much broth. But, please, try this recipe!! IT'S SOOO GOOD and not very fatty! It didn't make very much, so after dinner I found myself making an extra pot so I could have it for lunches this week, and to freeze some. Check out Martha Stewart's website for the original post. I left the jalapenos out of mine because Carter was eating the soup too. The soup was still very good. Phillip had sour cream and jalapenos to add to his and he said it was amazing. The prep time, and cooking time listed on the site are definitely correct, but it's not something you have to stand over and worry about while it's cooking. It took about 40 minutes start to finish. I'm a big fan of cutting corners to make things go faster so I used a bag of frozen chopped onions the second time I made it and it was perfection! (Oh, and let's not forget that they also sell the jalapenos canned already chopped and seeded! Score!) The Cannelini beans were hard to find, but I eventually found them at Food Lion. If you can't find any I'm sure you can substitute with Northern Beans, even though they have a bit different taste.

Turkey and White Bean Chili

2 tablespoons canola oil
1 pound ground turkey
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 large onion, chopped
2 jalapenos, diced and seeded for milder taste
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 cans (19 ounces each) cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
2 cans (14 1/2 ounces each) reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 cup water
Sour cream, cilantro, and radishes, for garnish

Directions

In a large, deep, skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add ground turkey; season with salt and pepper. Cook, breaking up turkey with spoon, until browned, 9 minutes.
Add onion and jalapenos; cook until soft, 3 minutes. Stir in cumin and tomato paste; cook 2 minutes.
Add cannellini beans, chicken broth, and water; bring to boil. Reduce heat; simmer until thick, 15 to 20 minutes.
Garnish with sour cream, cilantro, and radishes, if desired.

Skinny au' gratin potatoes

2010-03-16T08:18:00.000-07:00

Phillip and I are really trying to do well for ourselves and loose some weight. It's been very nice to have the shift in temperature and be able to walk outside at the end of the day. I found this recipe on the Weight Watchers website and it actually turned out pretty well. This recipe calls for Yukon Golds, but I really hate those, so I ended up using our regular baking potatoes and it still turned out pretty well. I bought a 10 pound bag of potatoes trying to save a buck (what was I thinking!!!) and we've been eating off this bag for 3 weeks now!! Wont do that again! Anywhooo! Next time I will peel the potatoes because it seems like it added a tang to it that wasn't right. I definitely encourage this recipe though! So yummy!

au gratin potatoes

POINTS® Value: 3
Servings: 8
Preparation Time: 20 min
Cooking Time: 90 min
Level of Difficulty: Moderate

Our cheesy potato dish is the perfect crowd pleaser—rich enough for your spouse and kids, yet light enough to keep your waistline slim.

Ingredients


	1 spray(s) cooking spray
	1 Tbsp butter
	1 medium onion(s), thinly sliced
	2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
	2 cup(s) fat-free skim milk
	2 pound(s) Yukon Gold potato(es), thinly sliced
	1 cup(s) low-fat shredded cheddar cheese
	1 tsp table salt
	1/4 tsp black pepper

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375°F. Coat a 2-quart covered baking dish with cooking spray.
Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion begins to brown, about 5 minutes. Stir in flour; add milk slowly, stirring. Add potatoes and stir to mix. Bring to a boil. Stir in 3/4 cup of cheese, salt and pepper.
Pour mixture into prepared baking dish and level out surface. Bake for 1 hour, uncovered. Cover and bake until potatoes are fork-tender, about 20 minutes more.
Change oven temperature to broil. Sprinkle remaining cheese over potatoes. Broil 6 inches from the heating element until the cheese is golden brown, about 1 to 2 minutes. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before slicing into 8 pieces.

March Madness

2010-03-10T10:52:00.000-08:00

It's been about a month since I last blogged. I'm kinda loosing my "umph" for my blog. I made it mostly for my friends and family when I was pregnant, hoping they could keep up with mine and Carter's progress during that time, and it eventually just became a place where I could share my ideas and crafts that I found online and tried myself. I feel swamped lately with work and keeping Carter entertained because he is learning so much. I really don't have time to do all the baking and sewing and crafting that I originally had grand dreams of. I'm really not sure if anyone reads this dang thing anymore.
Anyway, if you do, here's a little catch up (only a month late!) I wanted to do a little more than paper valentine's for Carter's class so I tried my hand at cookie cutters and royal icing. First of all, when looking for recipes to use for cookies that will be shaped, look specifically for cookie-cutter recipes. The one I used was FAN-FREAKIN'-TASTIC, but it certainly was not meant for being cut and shaped. So, the beautiful hearts that Carter and I cut out ended up looking like huge blobs..... tasty huge blobs of course. This was the first time that I got Carter involved in cooking. Usually I give him a bowl, spoon, pan, or what ever else I'm using to mimic me in the kitchen. This time, I let him stir the batter and cut out the shapes of the cookies. HE LOOOOVED IT!! My little man is definitely a fan of mommy's when she's cooking! I covered my work area in powdered sugar so my cookies wouldn't stick and he would not stop putting his face in it and licking it up! At one point his whole face was covered and he just smiled, and smiled! I wish I had more pictures of it, but I had to force Phillip to take pictures of us when we were almost done so I didn't get many. That poor kid isn't going to have any pictures of him and his momma when he grows up! Only his daddy! (**insert Bitter Betty here**)

My royal icing looks like a vat of Pepto Bismol!

AND PLEASE LET ME ADD THIS LITTLE SIDE NOTE:
yes, I'm aware of the ridiculous pile of dirty dishes behind me in my PUTRID/UGLY kitchen. I'll take a pass on this one because it was Valentines' Day and I was busy making these cookies, and a ridiculously messy and intense recipe for this:

Chicken Tetrazzini (I'll post the recipe and back story later... it's actually quite funny)

As I said before, the cookies were soooo yummy, but they turned out as blobs, so I had to get the cookie cutter out again and just cut out the shapes from the middle of the blobs. After they cooled I attempted royal icing. Some of it was pretty, others not so much. I put the initials of each child on their cookie and attached their Valentine to the back.

My friend Kristen and I hosted a baby shower for my long time friend from high school, Jaime. She is due in 2 weeks. She looks absolutely stunning and I wish I looked that great during my pregnancy! We had it at the Cheesecake Factory and boy that is always fantastic! I couldn't go all out on the decorations like I wanted to, but I still got a little bit in. I decorated the tables with tea lights, white flowers, a teddy bear, and a pair of blue gingham baby-booties that I made for Mr. Mason. I didn't get a picture of them before I gave them to her, but these will have to do.

Some of our guests. The guest of honor is Jaime, she's in the black. Also adorable and pregnant is Kristen, in the green sweater. We are all good friends from high school, and I'm so lucky we all keep in touch.

See that cutie in the red t-shirt? That is Mr. Mason's sweet older brother, Chase. He's adorable and will make such a good big brother! Oh!! Also, in front of him are the blue baby booties I made.

Everyone full on lunch, cheesecake, done with presents, and cleaning off the table

Good friends! (Left to right: Kelly, Jaime, Kristen, and me)

We make cute kids!

Adorable!

The girls

Oh, this picture is a little random, but it made me laugh. Carter has a new habit of playing in his ball pit ~~the "Let's Give Mommy a Heart Attack Way"~~ THE WROOOONG WAY. He'll put his hands on the top, and then throw his body foward, while standing in the pit. So, he goes down face first, still holding on, and the pit comes down too, throwing the balls everywhere! He pushes it back up, then does it all over again. Crazy baby! I had enough of the panic attacks, so I put the pit away for a couple of weeks hoping he would forget his new habit (yeah right, what was I thinking??). I brought it back out, with the balls in a trash bag. I was folding laundry one day and heard the sound of balls hitting the front hall, and then I found this.

He still sat down in the middle of them and threw them everywhere like he was in his pit!

We also had some crazy weather this month and I'll post pictures of that another time. Hope you are all doing well, and I appreciate you checking in on us if you are. See you soon.

This time ______ years ago...

2010-02-11T09:19:00.000-08:00

This time 3 years ago Phillip was just graduating with his Master's degree, we bought our first pet, and we were looking for a house. We found our perfect "first home" in April and we fell in love and had to have it.

This time 2 years ago I was struggling with a serious case of the flu and had to go to the doctor to get blood tests done. That's when I was told that I was pregnant, and we fell in love with this little guy.

This time last year hubby had moved out and was working at UNC-G at the best job we could have ever asked for. We were driving 5 hours every weekend to see each other as much as we could. I cried through every hour that Carter screamed in the backseat on the way home. I had little man to my self for 5 months. I learned a lot about him, about myself, how to be a good mommy, how to live on my own, how to depend on friends, and how to eventually say goodbye to those precious friends. Phillip and I both learned about ourselves as a couple and what our marriage could and couldn't handle. I'm stronger, bitter, and grateful for those 5 months. Now we are back together, strong, and loving having our little family back together. I've said it once, and I'll say it a million times.... I am truly blessed.
Thank you to all my friends and loved ones who pulled me through this time last year and helped me and my family stay strong. I cry as I write this post b/c I miss you so much and I'm soooo incredibly grateful that I have you in my life. I've gotten to the point of being a blubbery idiot as I sit at my desk typing this, so really want I to say is THANK YOU, AND I LOVE YOU!

My time with Carter last year:

Beautiful blue eyes

Making our first friend

Packing up for the cold weather

Not so happy that momma is attempting tummy time

Learning to roll over

Saying good bye to daddy

Spending time with mommy and daddy's friends

Getting used to bath time

Cooking with mommy

My little valentine

Heavy heart

2010-02-09T08:29:00.000-08:00

Sorry for not posting lately. I've been insanely busy with lots of baby shower planning, sewing, and other projects and so much more. First and foremost

HAPPY LATE BIRTHDAY DARA!!!

HAPPY LATE BIRTHDAY JAIME!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MONICA!!

My heart is really heavy right now and sad for my co-worker. Her husband is in the Reserves and has been overseas for over a year and a half, with no break to come home within that time. He was scheduled to come home Valentine's Day weekend. Then, yesterday, she got a call saying he didn't know any details, but they were on the way home, didn't know when they would get there or anything, but they were headed home. So, she got word last night that they would be in today. Then, this morning, she got a call from her husband saying that he would have to stay (because he is a commanding officer) due to a couple of his soldiers got DUI's after going out last night and he doesn't know how long it will be to get the sticky legal details straightened out of these men. It may be a day, it may be several. No one knows.
....I just can't imagine how that could feel......
Phillip and I were only apart from each other for 5 months and saw each other on the weekends, and it was still heart wrenching. I have a dear friend who's husband is also in the military and she and her toddler son had to be separated from him for quite a while also. My heart is so sad for these families who have to do without seeing their spouses for so long, and for those who never get to see their spouses again. To make matters worse, my co-worker's child has autism. One of the serious "side-effect" of autism is that these individuals do not do well with change. It puts their world in an absolute spin and things are not good. This poor boy was told so many different dates of when his father was coming home, then told that he will see him tomorrow, and then to was told he's not sure when he will be home. I feel for him. I feel for his momma. I feel for his daddy. I feel for the other soldiers who were a little too reckless on their return home. I feel for their families. My heart is just very heavy today, but I am MORE than GRATEFUL for the soldiers that serve our country and put their lives on the line for us. I hope you all get to return to your families, for good, very soon.

Carrot Cake Deliciousness!

2010-01-27T08:19:00.000-08:00

Mom had her birthday in January and my sister and I got our babies together and celebrated with her. I used Martha Stewart's Carrot Cake, and holy mackerel it was good! That icing was to die for. Enjoy!

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pans
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup water
1 pound carrots (8 to 10 medium carrots), peeled and shredded on a box grater or in a food processor (about 2 3/4 cups)
2 cups pecans (1 cup finely chopped for batter, 1 cup coarsely chopped for decorating sides of cake)
Cream Cheese Frosting

Directions

Make the cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter three 9-inch round cake pans. Line bottoms with parchment paper, and butter parchment. Dust with flour, tapping out excess. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, ginger, and nutmeg.
Beat butter and sugars with a mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat 3 minutes. Add vanilla, water, and carrots. Beat until well combined, about 2 minutes. Reduce speed to low, and add flour mixture, then finely chopped pecans.
Scrape batter into prepared pans, dividing evenly. Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into centers comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Let cool in pans on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Run a knife around edges of cakes to loosen, and turn out cakes onto rack. Turn right side up, and let cool completely.
Using a serrated knife, trim rounded top of 2 cakes. Place one trimmed cake, cut side up, on a serving platter. Spread 1 cup frosting over cake. Top with second trimmed cake, cut side down. Spread 1 cup frosting over cake. Top with remaining cake. Spread remaining frosting over top and sides. Gently press coarsely chopped pecans onto sides of cake. Refrigerate 1 hour (or up to 1 day, covered) before serving.

Christmas lateness

2010-01-13T09:53:00.000-08:00

I didn't think I would have time today to do 2 posts in one day, but evidently I do! So, here are the pics of our house and some decorations from Christmas. I would have pictures from the actual "Christmas morning" but I couldn't find my camera and we were crazy rushed, so I couldn't go looking for it.... bummer :(

These are pretty little (shatterproof) reindeer ornaments that I picked up from Hobby Lobby. There were so many of them in the container that I thought it looked a little tacky with them ALL thrown on my tree. So, I grabbed some of them and spaced them out over my mantel and looooved them!
I also added a little string of light and these little Moravian candles that were favors from Phillip's cousin's wedding. It all just came together so nicely, but there's really no picture to show it all!

This is one of my favorite decorations for Christmas. It's a garland of Santa's clothes all hung up (underwear, mittens, long-johns, and EVERYTHING!) like they are drying. I have one for Mrs. Clause and an elf also. I bought them years ago from Avon and have loved them ever since!

(P.S... Can you see that little white thing on the wall next to the fire place? That's Gizzy's stocking! Hee hee!)

I found this pattern for Christmas Tree Ornaments (from "The Small Object Steno Pad") and sewed them up. I really like how they turned out. It's the same 4 pieces of fabric all stacked differently for each ornament. The pattern was pretty simple, it made a lot, and i looooove that they are "Shatter-proof"!

Phillip's aunt decided to purge all of her Christmas decorations, including her tree, wreaths, and ornaments, and gave them to all to us. I had all these wreaths and didn't know what to do with them. So, I tied a pretty little bow on them and hung them in the windows. Simplicity is the way to go! (yes, that is Carter's "Dragon Wagon" still decorated from Halloween outside!)

I was very impressed with our tree this year. I really loved it. There's something about whites lights that are warm and "regal" to me. This was our Christmas tree all done up with un-breakable ornaments. I thought that it would be good and that it wouldn't be so bad with Carter, but he still wanted to pull ALL of them off the tree and play with them, which, in the end, still gave me a panic attack because I kept thinking he was going to pull down the tree!

I bought the most B-E-A-UUUTIFUL ornaments last year at K-Mart from the Martha Stewart line (after Christmas 75% off sale of course!!!). They were all warm tones and COMPLETELY glittery! They are the pretty little balls in red, greens, and golds. This picture doesn't do it justice, but when the light hit them it was gorgeous!

Needless to say, by the time Christmas actually rolled around all the ornaments were on the top half of the tree so Carter wouldn't be tempted!

First play in the snow!

2010-01-13T07:51:00.000-08:00

We had a lot going on over the holiday break and during the weeks surrounding Christmas that I'm hoping I can cover it all. I'm just gonna give you the pics of the snow today. Here is the snow we got right before Christmas. It was so beautiful. I freaked out the day it started and we got about 2 inches, so I came home from work early and got Carter from school. It was nice snuggling at home with hot chocolate when I was actually supposed to be slaving away at the office. Then, the snow realllly came during the night and we got to play in it the next day. Little man was too funny playing in it. He wasn't really sure what to do! His first snow was actually in October of last year, in the mountains, but he couldn't play in it because he was only 2 weeks old. So this is the first snow he's ever really seen or played in!

This was the house right before the big snow fall
(Let me go ahead and apologize for the garland that is missing on the left side railing of our porch! I know you home decorators may see it and have some shoulder spasms, so I want to apologize ahead of time.)

I found these snowflake "garland" things at the Dollar Store, loved them, but didn't know what to do with them. I think they look adorable on my front porch though!

I love going with burgandy colors during the holiday season instead of the traditional bright red!

This wreath was sooo wonderful and gave the house such a great smell as you opened the door!

Ziplocs tied around the socks! Mom always did this to us as kids and it totally worked with Carter! He was crawling around so much and the snow didn't get into his socks at all!

We tried to take him out in the wagon, but the snow was so deep that we couldn't pull it.

We had a little more luck with his car and he just loved every minute of it!

My sweet lil' man with his Harry Potter scar.

He couldn't seem to keep his balance in the snow (with all the layers)
So, there was lots of this:

and this....
...and this.

I bet he kept the hat and gloves on about 20 minutes before he was totally over it all.

Carter tried to eat the snow....

But it didn't taste anything like his beloved Goldfish!
A lil' slave labor never hurt anyone....

And here is a video for you to watch of my happy boy. Sorry it's filmed sideways and I can't rotate it, so you're just gonna have to tilt your pretty little head to see my lil' man enjoying his ride in the snow!

Happy 2010

2010-01-07T06:58:00.001-08:00

I've been wanting to post the pics from our Christmas decorations, the holiday, the crap load of snow we got, and everything else in between but I'm just beat. I'm dead tired and there's so much going on. Just know that Christmas was a bust with Carter throwing up and not eating (CERTAINLY NOT LIKE MY BOY!), and New Years was a bust with me throwing up and other stomach issues circulating the house. I did get to spend New Years with my mom and dad again this year, which was nice, but not as nice as the plans to visit the mountains that were supposed to happen. Phillip took down the Christmas decorations 3 days after Christmas and that really bummed me out. I'm focusing my efforts on Valentine's Day now. Hoping that will make me feel better.
As I've stated in recent posts I currently work for the state. They have decided to downsize and save a little money by closing my office, and they are relocating us. This means that I will have an hour and a half to drive just to get to my office, and then 45 minutes or more to do my home visits and evaluations, just to drive 45 minutes back to my office, then drive an hour and a half back home. I'm absolutely in a whirlwind over this and I'm really not sure what to do with myself. I cannot, and REFUSE to be that far from Carter. Please pray for us and this new situation. I'm certainly glad I still have a job, but this is really stressing me out. Hope to come back soon with pictures and happier posts.
-Sara

Christmas lateness

2009-12-23T09:24:00.000-08:00

Sorry I haven't been able to update you on my projects going on. Things are crrrrazy at the house. Carter is sick and so is Phillip. I'm not sure which one is being the bigger baby ;)

Here's to you all, wishing you the sweetest and brightest of holidays from my family to yours!

My little Elf :)

whip it up!

2009-12-14T07:33:00.000-08:00

I mentioned in my last post that I've been very busy at the sewing machine. I wanted to share a few more of the projects that I've been doing.
Here is the Christmas tree that I made Paisley so she can decorate it and have for herself (Thank you Ruffles and Stuff!). I wanted to make it a little fancier, but my sewing skills aren't so up to snuff yet, so she got a simple triangle as the shape of her tree. She likes playing with it on the ground, but it's also meant to be hung up and it's reversible so she can put the ornaments on the other side. Each ornament has velcro on the back and sticks to the opposite side of the velcro that is stitched to the tree (don't even get me started on how this about killed my machine and myself in the process! Let's just say that I will neeeever buy sticky-backed velcro everrr again!) (And of course one of the velcro backing pieces right in the smack dab middle came off b/c I forgot to sew it on, so it's got a gaping hole where an ornament should be.... workin' on it people! I'm working on it!!) I wish I had taken better pics of the actual tree, but I was up til 1 in the morning trying to finish it and then got up super early so I could have a photoshoot with Paisley for the holidays so there was no time for the pictures. Um, and let me say this....pay no attention to the uggggly and burned floor of my kitchen! It's one of the many rooms in the house that is on the renovation list.

Pink with white polka dots side

White with pink polka dots side

Putting the ornaments on the tree

Wish my ornaments could have been fancier, but Paisley loved it and that's all that matters

I made the letter "p" for her for her name, and there are 2 ornaments with toys on them that are left-overs from some real ornaments that I'm making for our tree.
OHHH! P.S... The little pink circle at the bottom right with the ruffle...yeah that one... it's my first ruffle!! I'm so excited! (it doesn't take much ya'll! Not much at all to excite me!)

On to the next projects:
Our friends in the mountains, Jeff and Kate, just had their little girl and they were going for something a little gender neutral while she was pregnant b/c they weren't finding out the sex. So, I made these little puppies for them. I'm currently working on other baby booties that ARE NOT gender neutral (you'll see what I mean when I get them finished!) So, I went with this pretty little Pooh-Bear pattern for the booties (thanks to StarDust Shoes) and little ducks for the burp cloths.

This is my first pair of baby booties. I'm super excited they turned out so well!

Here is the burp cloth. I've always decorated pre-made burp cloths and never actually made one. With the help of Homemade by Jill I got some great suggestions and patterns for these. She had such a great idea to put a seam horizontally down the middle so that they fold easier and let me tell you.. this woman is a genius! It's so aggravating not being able to fold Carter's burp clothes and they take up so much roooooooom! This solves it!

This did take forever to make with having to snip all the way around the sides and wash it 4 times for the perfect frayed edge. It is reversible and is made from a very soft flannel material and I went with all natural batting on the inside for my earth-friendly friends :)
Front and back

Busy bee

2009-12-08T06:16:00.000-08:00

I've been making it a priority lately to have some time to myself and have been making to sit down at my sewing machine and finish products that have been brewing in my head. I've been so inspired by other blogs that I follow and have gotten some great ideas. Here's only just a few I've finished. Oh, by the way, Blogger is not cooperating with me today and keeps rotating the pictures that I'm uploading, so just tilt your pretty little head to the side to see what the heck I've posted :)

I haven't made anything for Carter.... anything. I'm constantly in the process of making other people things, but I've never made him anything. I feel horrible, so I'm trying to catch up. He's been like Linus of the "Peanuts" cartoon lately and has been really attached to his blanket. So, here's his simple little fleece blanket those I've started with.
I'm totally in love with his knit Elmo hat and gloves that I found at the big consignment sale they have here, but I wanted more and I wanted to give a try at making a hat and gloves. I ran across this vest at the Dollar Tree (who knew they carried this kinda stuff???) and decided to whip up a little something from it.

We caught him in mid-laugh!! Looove those cheeks!

That didn't last long.... "Get this thing off!!"
Ok...I'll just eat them...

Carter is loooving our Christmas tree a little too much. I've been really debating about putting ornaments on it, but I've spent so much time making ornaments this year that it's kind of a waste to not use them.

I could just eat up that little belly! It's funny to watch him catch a glimpse of his belly, look down at it, rub it, and think "Hey, what's that poking out down there?"

More to come of my ornaments (once they get finished) and some of the baby projects for the friends that had a baby in November!

Christmas before Thanksgiving should be illegal

2009-12-07T06:17:00.000-08:00

So, in my opinion, Christmas parade's before Thanksgiving should truly be illegal. It sends my stress into over-drive and Lord knows I need to do that!~

These are some pics of our adventure to my first Christmas parade in Burlington. It was incredibly long and we were there for almost 3 hours..... very tiring for us and our little man. We busted out the hiking backpack that is for kids and it was awesome. Carter lovvvved being able to have access to momma's hair and sunglasses as much as he wanted.

My sister-in-law Melissa, my nephew Jacob, and my brother-in-law Brian

These little knit Elmo hat and gloves are my very favorite! Soooo cute!

Who can resist that face!

Sleepy boy on my back

I'm definitely in the Christmas spirit now! I've been busy making ornaments for the tree and decorating the house. Definitely not scrooge-a-fied now! :)

So, I lied.....

2009-12-04T07:33:00.000-08:00

Yeah, I lied.... I didn't post anything yesterday like I said I would. I brough my camera to work, but I had so many patients to see yesterday that I never got a chance to post. So, here are our pictures! We had 2 Thanksgivings, one with Phillip's family, and one with just us and college friends that came to visit. It was so wonderful to see them. It's been a year now and I really do miss them!

Getting ready to go to Aunt TT's for dinner

He's so freakin' cute!

Diving in to some yummy Thanksgiving Dinner!

The grown-up table that we've been allowed to join since we had Carter :) LOL!

The dinner I cooked! Yummy! Not as much as my mom makes, but I'm not sure I could've done more!

(Oh, and P.S.... I have the BEST recipe for crockpot mac and cheese! DELISH!)

Accent decorations- Tip from Martha to add cranberries to your fall flowers

Our table

Where's my food momma?!!

I made pumpkin pie (thank god it didn't turn out like my pecan pie did!) and Pumpkin Spice Cucakes and Cinnamon Cream Cheese icing with candy acorns (Totalllly did not taste like pumpkin and were AMAZZZZING!! Our guests cleared through 1/2 of them before I even got to ice them!)

The Acorn Toppers (made from caramels, dipped in chocolate, then dipped in sprinkles)

Sam and Katrina, our guests :)

I never thought I'd miss the boy, but I really do!

Thanksgiving!

2009-12-02T09:15:00.000-08:00

I had full intentions of posting pics from my first Thanksgiving meal today, but lo-and-behold, I forgot my camera. But, I will let you know that things went FANTASTIC!! My turkey was just beautiful and the brine that I bought from William-Sonoma was oh-so-goooood! Not to mention the pumpkin-spice cupcakes with candy acorns that I made were perfect! I think my guests ate half of them before I could even make the icing and slap it on there! I can't wait to post pics tomorrow! Just so happy how it all turned out! I hope you and your family enjoyed your Thanksgiving and you had a chance to look around and realize all the things you can be thankful for! See you tomorrow!

Thank you Martha!

2009-11-18T07:04:00.000-08:00

You can always count on the Martha Stewart website for the most fantastic meals and recipes. I ran across this one the other day, and boy am I glad I did!! This was so ridiculously delicious! There are 3 thing I will warn you about. This recipe definitely took an hour (maybe a bit more) from prep to finish (I don't know if it's because I used fresh veggies or what??). Also, it dirties a lot of dishes. I'm a big advocate for not making a HUGE mess, and cleaning while I cook, and it definitely used a lot of dishes. The comments below the recipe state that it came out a little blah.... and.... yeah... it could have been. But I doctored mine a bit. I really feel like I need to incorporate more veggies and good stuff for my little man so I added nice fresh asparagus stalks to this meal. I also added a couple good dashes of onion powder to the final mixture, and then under the top coating of cheese I added a Parmesan herb topping that I had in my spice cabinet.
You know the best part of this meal? It makes enough for two meals, so I could cook one that night, and freeze the other half for another night! Oh me loves it when I can cook enough for 2 nights! Here ya go!!

Sorry I couldn't get a pic before we scooped Carter's portion out to cool!

Baked Penne with Chicken and Sun-Dried Tomatoes:

6 tablespoons butter, plus more for baking dishes
coarse salt and ground pepper
1 pound penne rigate
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (8 ounces each), halved horizontally
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
4 garlic cloves, minced
6 cups whole milk
10 ounces white mushrooms, trimmed and thinly sliced
1/2 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained and thinly sliced
1 1/2 cups shredded provolone (6 ounces) (I Sargento's Shredded Mozerella/Provolone mixture)
1 cup finely grated Parmesan (4 ounces) (I would suggest a little more than this)

Directions

Preheat oven to 400. Butter two shallow 2-quart baking dishes. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta 3 minutes short of al dente; drain pasta, and return to pot.
In a large nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium-high. Season chicken with salt and pepper; cook until opaque throughout, 3 to 5 minutes per side. Halve each piece lengthwise, then thinly slice crosswise.
In a 5-quart Dutch oven or heavy pot, melt butter over medium. Add flour and garlic; cook, whisking, 1 minute. While whisking, gradually add milk; bring to a simmer, whisking frequently. Add mushrooms and tomatoes; cook 1 minute. Off heat, gradually stir in provolone and 1/2 cup Parmesan.
Add chicken and pasta to pot; season with salt and pepper. Divide pasta mixture between baking dishes; sprinkle each with cup Parmesan.
Bake, uncovered, until top is golden and bubbling, about 25 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.
Prepare through step 4; let cool. Cover tightly with foil, and freeze, up to 3 months.
Preheat oven to 400, and bake (still covered in foil) on a rimmed baking sheet until center is hot, about 1 1/2 hours. Remove foil; bake until golden, about 15 minutes more.

OOOOHHH!! It was sooooo yummy and I'm really looking forward to my left-overs for lunch today!

P.S.... I've noticed quite the trend of cheese-topped items on my site.... eh... oh well!! It's soooooo good!

Medicine for the heart

2009-11-16T10:50:00.000-08:00

I've been in a really big slump lately, and really depressed with a lot of stuff going on. So, I decided to do whatever I could to bring myself out of my slump, at least for the weekend. I wanted to share these movies with you because I seriously laughed and it brightened me up. Check them out if you can.

Better late than never!

2009-11-12T06:17:00.000-08:00

Hi guys! So, here is our Halloween re-cap!

The Thursday before Halloween was awesome! We got together with a really good friend of mine and had all the babies dress up. It was so great, and she made lots of yummy food and snacks for the adults and special little treats for the kiddos. This kind of stuff is great for memory making :)

The cutest little fisher-man saying hello to a little dragon

The kiddos- Aiden, Carter, Natalie

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE that tail!

The girls and the babies

(not such a great pic of me and Carter, but good of the other girls!)

Carter had 2 costumes. One, my mom bought when I was still pregnant, and one that we couldn't resist. Carter goes to daycare at a Christian Academy so he was only allowed to dress as bible characters or an animal from Noah's Ark. Luckily, the costume my mom bought was a giraffe, and you'd best bet your ninny's that Noah had one of those on his ark! :)

So, those were the pics from Friday before Halloween. That day I also set myself to work on making my very first pie using Martha Stewart's recipe in her fall 09 issue (which, by the way, had a completely different picture in the magazine than the pic online!). I don't eat pie (for texture reasons... stop laughing!) But, I figured that I have no problem with cakes and other dessert items, so what's a little pie? I went balls to the wall my friends. I even made home-made crust with the cream-cheese pie crust out of the same Martha Stewart Living magazine! Woot!~ I was soooo stinkin' proud of myself. Check out this pie....

Isn't she a beauty! My crust was a bit of a devil and I couldn't quite understand how to shape it, but I think it turned out ok. I wish I had taken a pic of the inside once we cut it. You know why? 'Cause it was horrrrrible!! It was allll liquid and fell apart as soon as you cut into it! The dang thing cooked for 90 minutes! It should have set! I wonder if it was because the recipe didn't call for flour? I don't know! I was soooo upset. I was so proud of the dang thing and then it turned to crap in an instant. I will try it again I guess. I'm just glad I did my first pie on Halloween instead of the one that I'm planning to make for my first Thanksgiving Dinner this year!
Anywhooooo.... Here are pics from Halloween Day. We had such a beautiful day to sit outside on the porch and carve pumkins. It was so nice and just the dream setting to spend time with my family.

Group shot. Starting at the bottom and going left: Carter, my mom, Paisley, Phillip, my dad, my sister

Super focused to get the perfect shape cut into the most awwwwesome double-stacked pumpkins that we found in the "pumpkin patch" at Lowes

Daddy and Jamie, scooping out the gross insides

Mom is really getting into the fact that we use a lot of sign language with Carter and she's learning also. He's got "more" mastered!

He loves his apple sauce, and his grandmother loves giving it to him!

I should know better than to ask him to smile for a picture!

Phillip's awwwwesome pumpkin. I'm pretty impressed that he did this without a stencil!

My cute little man!

So, I got Carter's costume in the very beginning of October, and ever since, I knew exactly what I wanted Halloween to be like. I convinced my sister to dress Paisley up as a princess and I knew that I wanted to make Carter's wagon into a castle that they could both be in together. The castle in my mind was a lot more detailed with towers and stuff, but I didn't buy enough foam-board for that. I was pretty proud of the finished product though. Lots of hand painting and "sponge" technique to get the aged look in the bricks. This is the finished product of the mean old dragon guarding his princess in the castle.

I really wanted to make a personalized license plate on the back that said "drgnwgn" (aka- dragon wagon), but I figured that might be taking it a little too far :)

Barnyard Cupcake how to!

2009-10-29T07:18:00.000-07:00

So, here are the instructions on how to make my barnyard cupcakes for all those parents making the last minute dash to make something cute for their child's birthday!

Let me start by saying that I believe sometimes a boxed cake mix is the answer. For this party, indeed it was! I do not like Betty Crocker mix. It never fails to come out waaay to dry. Duncan Hines never does this girl wrong. One of my favorites is the "Moist Deluxe Classic White Cake Mix". It's fantastic! It's so light and airy because your only using the egg whites instead of the entire egg. It's a fantastic base for cakes. That being said, I always feel the need to put in a more personal touch if I'm using a box cake. So, I always make homemade icing. Wilton's website has THE BEST recipes for different icicings. Their buttercream icing is always a winner for me. It colors well, it's not too heavy, and it's easy to make. Along with the boxed cake, I used this for both Carter's barnyard cupcakes and Paisley's Dora Cake.
Also, quick apology for the quality of the cupcakes and the picture. I made about 50 cupcakes and sent a lot home with people before I got to take pictures of the really good ones. The pictures I'm sharing are from the box of "imperfect" ones that were left after everyone left. And, for some reason my camera is being extra blurry and crazy. Enjoy!

Cow cupcake

Materials:
Pink meltaways
Black meltaways
Chocolate chips
Mini marshamallows
Cupcake
Buttercream icing

The night before the party I covered all the pink meltaway bottoms with smiley faces which are supposed to be the nose and mouth portion of the face. The smileys were made from melting black meltaways in a ziploc bag, snipping the end off of it, and piping the nose and mouth on. I also made the cow's horns with the same black meltaways. I piped the shape of the horn on wax paper, and then filled in the middle. Let air dry overnight.
Cover your cupcakes smoothly in buttercream. Place the pink meltaway (bottom up so you can see the face) close to the bottom of the cupake. Place 2 Chocolate chips in upside down as eyes. Also upside down needs to be the horns so you have the smooth side (the part that was in contact with the wax paper) up. Place the mini marshmallows between the horns.

Pig cupcakes:

Materials needed:
cupcake
Reserved buttercream icing tinted with red food coloring for pink color
Pink Meltaway
Black Meltaway
Large Pink (Strawberry) Marshamallows
Circlular sprinkles in white

The night before the party I covered all the pink meltaway bottoms with dots which are supposed to be the snout portion of the face. The nostrils were made from melting black meltaways in a ziploc bag, snipping the end off of it, and piping the nostrils on. Let air dry overnight.
Cover cupcakes smoothly in pink icing. Cut large pink marshamallows in quarters. Place across the top for ears. Place white sprinkes as eyes. Place the pink meltaway (bottom up so you can see the nostrils) close to the bottom of the cupake as a snout.

Chicken cupcakes:

Materials:
Buttercream
Mini Marshamallows
Very small portion of reserved buttercream and colored with Wilton's Icing Coloring (red & yellow)
Red licorice
Black Meltaways

Cover entire cupcake with buttercream. Instead of smoothing the icing on the top, spike it up with the back of your spatula to simulate feathers. Use your melted black meltaways in a ziploc bag to pipe eyes on the face. Cut your licorice to desired lengths for the chicken's comb and place on the top of the head. Put your reserved orange icing in a ziploc bag, snip the ends, and pipe a "V" under the eyes for the chicken's beak. For the chicken's wings snip a "v" shape into mini-marshamallows, but do not let the snips touch each other. Smoosh or pull the marshmallow a bit to make it a little more obvious and fluffed.

Farm Themed birthday party

2009-10-28T10:42:00.001-07:00

So, I've been waiting to post this because there were so many cameras snapping shots during Carter's b-day party...... and mine was BARELY one of them. It's been such a bummer to not really have any pics from his party. I was ridiculously busy during the party and did not get the dream pictures I wanted and planned for. I was hoping people would send me there's, but there's been no such luck. Here's what I've got so far. Enjoy!

Poppy, Aunt Mamie, Paisley

Singing Happy Birthday (not sure why all these pics are blurry!)

Blowing out the candle

Little man loooooved his cupcake and demolished the entire thing!

All the kids were dressed in their farm attire! It was just precious!

Oh daddy please let me get in my car!

Cousins- Jake & Carter

My best friend from college and her little boy

Phillip's mother

Farmer Carter

So you couldn't see the detail of the shirt I made him for the party, so I had to make sure to get some pics without the pants so you could see it (and the fat little legs hanging out beneath it are always a bonus!)

Applique is my friend!!!

Barnyard cupcakes!! Phillip couldn't figure out the top one was a cow so I'm not so sure it was a sucesss. I think it's pretty obvious.... but, whatever...

The Food
Ok, so I have to confess, I didn't get ANY good pictures of the food b/c I was so busy, so I got pictures of them after everyone tore into it. Sorry folks!! Oh, and some of this stuff was supposed to have tags with it stating what it was, but I never got around it to either. (I got some of the ideas from Kara's Party Ideas)

The veggies tray was supposed to be "Carter's Veggie Garden"

From the top left: "Cow Pies" (also known as "No Bake" or "Boiled" cookies), apples and caramel, "Pigs in a blanket", chips, Veggies Sticks, "Chicken Feed" (also known as Chex Mix)

Bullocks BBQ (yummmmmy!)

Not pictured was the potato salad, baked beans, coleslaw, sweet tea, and lemonade.

THE DETAILS

Added a little fabric bow to my wreath on the front door

Pig cupcake

Chicken cupcake

Cow cupcake

This is a horrible picture of the balloon weights, but I refuse to spend $2 on weights to hold the balloons. So, I cut squares into fabric that I bought to use for the party (blue and red bandanna pattern and cow print) and put a ziploc bag of dried beans inside to act as weight. They turned out stinking adorable, but you really can't tell from this pic. Also, I bought these table covers from Oriental Trading. They came in a pack of 12 for $15.

The napkins (purchased at Hobby Lobby). The red bandannas were placed on my island in the kitchen, under all the food that was on top of it (better picture can be found above in the "food" section).

The balloon bundles. I looooove cow print!
These balloons also came from Oriental Trading.

I didn't get a picture of them, but I found some great gift bags for the kids to take home along with the balloon bundles. They matched the blue and red bandanna and cow print fabric the balloon weights were made out of and were JUST PERFECT!

The aftermath

This was little man taking his first steps unassisted! Just cruised right across the room like he's been doing it for years! Little stinker!

Overall, the party went really well. Unfortunately, a few friends didn't get to come, it made the guest list smaller than we expected, but we still had over 20 people there. I really wanted the party to be outside, with hay-bales all around and places for the kiddies to play, but it was too cold, so we all just huddled in the garage. But, you know what, end the end, Carter had a great time with all his family and the other babies around, and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and that's ALL that matters to me. Everyone made Carter's party so special and I could not have asked for a better time myself!

My next post will be for people like me who were SCRAMBLING the week of his party to find different designs for barnyard cupcakes and couldn't find annnnnnything. Granted, there were plenty of fondant cupcakes that I would have loved to do, but I just did not have the time!

Annnnd.... He's off!!!

2009-10-19T07:07:00.000-07:00

Carter turned a year old on October 12. It's hard to believe. This has been one seriously stressful year. Lil man went through some serious struggles with his weight gain, we've had job losses, moved.... twice, bought a house, started new jobs, and so much more. It's hard to look back at all the rough stuff we've been through as a family this year, but we made it. And we didn't kill the boy. Or each other. We made it. We've got a beautiful, healthy, and hilarious little boy and just could not ask for more. It's been amazing to see how much Carter is growing and learning. He has been saying so much. He says eat, nana for banana, more, momma, dada, hi, bye, guh for Gizzy..... he waves, he blows kisses, he plays peak-a-boo like it's going out of style. Ask him to point to his eyes, feet, toes, fingers, hands, and head and he has it down! As a mother I was worrying about him not walking. As a person working in the early intervention program with children 3 and under with developmental delays, I was really worrying. And, really, there was no reason for me to worry. He wasn't behind, and there were no red flags. I guess it was just my over-expectations for my child, and my nagging husband in my head saying "When is he going to walk? Why is he still army crawling?" I should've known better. The day after his 1st birthday the little man took three steps by himself. The day after it was 10 steps. The day after that he's doing nothing but walk all over the place. It's like, "Don't worry guys... I got this!" He's walking like a champ! He's so funny though! He keeps his arms straight out in front of him and he looks like Frankenstien walking! Hilarious!
We had his Barnyard Birthday Bash this past weekend and everything went sooooo well. It was definitely crazy and we had to put our guests to work in getting tables up (sooooo bad!!) because we were so behind, but nobody cared and it seemed that everyone had a good time. Little man did so good and tore into his cupcake! I can't wait to share the pics with you! I'm gathering a lot from other people so I'll probably have several posts with pics as they come in. Thanks for checking on us! Love you very much!

birthday!

2009-10-02T09:10:00.000-07:00

This has been one crazy week. Monday was my sister's b-day. Wednesday was my dad's.

Today is my birthday. Yay! I've gotten some great birthday wishes and it has made my day!

Next week is Carter's. I'm more excited/sad about this than any other b-day. I made the most ridiculously cute invitations for him and actually got them out in the mail on Monday. I was so excited that I was doing so well on time. Then, I noticed today that every single one of the invitations sent out had the wrong postage on it. I blame you, USPS! You keep increasing the postage rate and I cannot keep up with you! This also means all the bills I sent out this week also have the wrong postage. This is why I love online banking and payments. Dangit! Dangit! Dangit! I'm hoping USPS will realize what d-bags they have been for increasing postage rates so much and have pity on this poor little momma's soul and pay for it themselves (or just send me a bill later). I'm so crrrraaaazy stressed about this party already... it's just not a good sign! Arg.

Anyway, enjoy these cute pics. Lil due and Paisley are growing fast.

Fall fabulosity

2009-09-24T10:33:00.000-07:00

It's officially Fall. This girl is PUMPED! Not only does it mean birthday season...
my sister- September 28
my dad- September 20
me- October 2
Carter- October 12
brother in law- October 28
sister in law- Nov 1?
............

.................but it also means decorating!!! I'm soooo in love with fall colors, the smell of leaves changing and falling to the ground, and pumpkins, pumpkins, pumpkins...everywhere!! I'm gathering ideas from Martha (of course!) and other bloggers to make my new home so beautiful (even though there's technically only 1 room that has been made over since we moved in and it's still in need of lots of lovin'). I've got so much to do, and so much brain storming that is just sending me into a tizzy!! Not only am I doing stuff for Fall/Halloween, I'm also making baby booties, a baby blanket, a banner for Carter's b-day party, applique shirts for Carter's b-day, stuffed pumpkins, table runners, curtains for the house and sooooo much more!! My sewing machine and my brain are about to blow! I'm so pumped! I'll keep you posted and put up pictures ASAP!!
Here are pics from our trip to the mountains last week. (**insert "siiiiiigh" and "I miss it so much!" here**)

Silver Run Falls
Cashiers, NC

At the WCU football... I love my alma-mater!
My aunt Nishelle

Passing down that Catamount Pride!
He's his father's son....

making friends with the ladies

This was me attempting a family shot, but not so much....
But, seriously, look at mine at Phillip's eyes- How did Carter get such piercing blue eyes???
My mountain strength

Me, Jeff, Kate, and Maria
Jeff and Kate are the ones expecting in November that Maria and I threw the baby shower for. I'll be posting pics from that next time.

Crunch N' Munch

2009-09-16T06:50:00.001-07:00

So, my new office is definitely a bummer compared to my old office. At my office in the mountains I had a nice some-what large office to myself. Here, I share a VERY TINY cubicle room with 5 other people. Fortunately, but unfortunately, I'm on the back side of the cubicle sectional. So, this means the 1 office that is to my left is only used by visiting therapists and other staff members who need a place to crash when they come to our satellite office, and the other walls are shared. Unfortunately, being on the back means no window, no sunshine, no light, no nothing but a wall (which I have slap-covered with pictures because my cubicle is too small for all the pictures I had in my other office). The ladies here don't like the overhead lights. Neither do I because they give me a headache. So, they turn the lights office and use the sunshine as their beautiful natural lighting. I have none of the sort. I have a dark, dismall, hole. I've had to go out and buy a crap ton of lights for my office b/c it's soooo dark. Unfortunately, when I went to buy a lamp from Target, all they had was one with 4 arms jutting out, and the bulb covers were in shades of pink and one that is white. So, when you walk into our dark office, you see my pitiful little office glowing pink like the glowing pits of pink hell. It's terrible.
The front side of my cubicle is shared with the other ladies. Let me preface what I'm about to say with "I love these women, and I love working with this group." The person almost directly in front of me is a girl, about my age, with a little boy, a few months older than Carter. I like her. She's funny, and a bit "dippy" like me. But... she's a cruncher. Everything she eats is crunchy. She hasn't learned to close her mouth when she's eating. So, when she's crunching, I get to hear everything soooo loudly because she wont close her mouth. I get to hear her tongue slapping around her mouth, and her food moving around too. She's a little girl, and has a tiny mouth, so she does lots of quick crunching and lots of moving the food around. It's truly about to drive me crazy.
One of the other ladies in my "cubicle-room" has the only microwave that hasn't been blown up by the crazy electric sockets in this joint. She's freakin' hilarious, and I love her even more because she graduated from the same college as I did, and in the social work department like I did. But, she's a crazy eater. She eats some of the craziest, stinkiest stuff. She also shares a wall with me, along with Crunchy-Chick. Stinky-McStinkerson cooks eggs EVERY DAY. EVERY. DAY. As you know, I have extreme texture issues. Along with those texture issues is a VVVVEEEERY strong sense of smell. This does not bode well with the eggs in the morning or the stinky fish she seems to have every other day.
I'm about to die people. Not only is my sincere dislike of the tongue/seeing/hearing people eat being completely over-played, so is my since of smell.
HELP!
.... thanks for letting me vent.....

baby shower

2009-09-09T08:34:00.000-07:00

We will be back in the mountains for a baby shower this weekend that I am hosting with a mutual friend for a very special couple that means a lot to Phillip and I. I can't wait to see how it all turns out. Looks like I'll be leaning on a few "old-faithful" recipes that you've seen before, but I can't wait to show you the pics of the presents I am making her. I just can't wait to be surrounded by friends and the beauty of my "peaceful spot" back in Sylva.
Things at the house are going very well. We got a lot done at the house and have been living in it full time since this weekend. We've got a few things left at the apartment to take care of, but other than that we're pretty much all moved. We got the living room painted a very beautiful light tan color, the hideously pink bathroom is now a beautiful green, and the dining room is the same red as our old bedroom. But.... I hate the dining room color. It's awful. It turned out more of a lipstick color this time around, and I don't know why. For some reason, it has more of a pink tone to it than it did back in our mountain home. I thought our bedroom was pretty light, but it must have been more dark than I knew, b/c that color was NOWHERE near that pink color we ended up with. Oh well.... can't change it now. Phillip started to strip the wallpaper in the kitchen and that was just a bad idea. It pulled up the wall behind it and it's just a big mess now. Not sure what we're going to do with it.
OH!! I forgot to mention.... Lil man just got introduced to steps at this new house. Let me tell you!... it is nooooo problem for this guy! He hopped right up on them and got half way up the steps before he got tired! Not to mention, he didn't even use his knees to get up. He's just going one foot after the other! Sheeeeesh!~

Move in!

2009-09-02T09:47:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow we sign papers to make the house in Elon ours! I'm waaaay too pumped to finally get in there! We've got loooooots of updating and painting to do that will come in stages over time, but I just can't wait...... I've got ants in my pants! Be thinking of us tomorrow as we sign papers and work our little fingers to the bones this weekend! Praise the Lord we are off on Monday!

Red Cross My Heart

2009-08-28T06:15:00.000-07:00

Today I gave blood for the first time.

I was ABOLUTELY TERRIFIED. I went in with my knees shaking, the blood drained from my face, and a queezy stomach. They had to prick my finger twice to make sure I wasn't anemic b/c the first reading came up with a low count. I was kinda hoping it would come up low on the 2nd round just so I could get myself out of that place as fast as possible. But, I stuck it out and stayed. I've always contimplated giving blood but never brought myself to do it. They were doing the blood drive directly across from my office and I told myself that there was absolutely no reason for me not go. The lady who took my information asked me if I had given blood before and I told her no. She asked me if there was a special reason why I was doing it. Yeah..... I think there is.
For these two:

For this little girl and her momma:

And for these wonderful people:

.... in hopes that one day, if they ever need it, maybe, just maybe, the blood waiting on them would be my blood, and maybe, just maybe, there wouldn't be a shortage for any other family who has people that they cherish as much as I cherish those people.

Belle of the birthday!~

2009-08-26T12:01:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we celebrated Paisley's 2nd birthday. I made sure to spoil her a bit and made her a tu-tu, an appliqued t-shirt, and 3 cakes. Yup, I was super aunt! I loved every minute of being crafty for my little munchkin and I would do it everyday for her if I could. My machine and I got into quite the disagreement and tangle when I went to make her shirt. I found some really cute fabric at Hobby Lobby (I LOOOOVE THIS STORE!) and the pink in it matched the tutu material perfectly. It's been so long since I've been able to sew that I had to duke it out with my machine and my scrap fabric that I keep to remind myself how to do things and mess up on. That size 10 pair of kakhis will never be worn again and it has gotten more use under my sewing machine than it ever has! For you sewing perfectionist, yes, I noticed that my fabric is sideways, but it's still cute.... yes, I realize that my lining around the number is DEFINITELY not perfect.... and yes, the thread got all clumped up. Right at the very end of sewing it the thread snapped and was only functioning on half the actual string so I had to go back, rip the stitches out, and start right in the middle of it. But, it's ok. Paisley never knew and she loved it. She loved her cakes too. All she kept saying when she saw them was "Dora!" "Swiper!" "Pack-pack" (she can't say "backpack")

This is the bow on the back

The complete outfit

The big cake was for the guests and the little one was Paisley's cake

Yummy homemade buttercream!!!

Paisley's personal cake

Precious little girl!

Throwing grass

One of my favorite shots!

Crazy baby is too fast for my camera!

Paisley and Carter had a great weekend together. They stayed at grandmother & poppy's house together the night before.... bless mom and dad's hearts!

What iiiiis this?

A little drool on the sleeve is my trademark by now

Paisley and Jamie (my sister)
Her momma loves her!

Seriously huge news on the homefront!

2009-08-20T07:52:00.000-07:00

Hello friends! It's been a while since I've been able to update. My new job has kept me super busy and I feel like a better and more efficient worker than I have ever been. It's crazy. I never realized.... scratch that..... I realized that I was a bit of a slacker at my last office, but here I'm more motivated and actually enjoy what I do and ALL the people in my office instead of 4 or 5 select few from my last place. I'm constantly on the run, and then when I get home all I want to do is play with Carter. He is really growing up so fast right before our eyes.
Anywho!!
I've been crazzzzy busy lately. Tuesday was Paisley's 2nd birthday (I KNOW RIGHT!! I CAN'T BELIEVE SHE'S 2!!!!!) But, this weekend is her actual party. My sister asked me to make her cake again this year. I plan on doing it up a little more fancy than I did last year with her number shaped cake for the guests and Barbie cake for her.

Don't get me wrong, I stinkin' love last year's 2 cakes. But I want to do something a little more for her. And, I've taken it upon myself to make her birthday outfit as well. I have found some really great ideas on other blogs and I gotta say that she is going to be the cutest thing once I get done!! I'll post pictures after the party b/c I don't want to ruin the surprise.

Ok, and for the news here.... WE ARE BUYING A HOUSE!! We have found the most beautiful 2-story home in Burlington that we just love. It's in the Elon area in a neighborhood that Phillip esteemed to be as he grew up. It's 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath, with a 2 car garage, wrap-around porch (you guys know I'm a sucker for a porch!!!!), a great backporch, and a great backyard. The house will DEFINITELY need some updating though. It's going to be a very very very loooong and expensive process to get everything out of the 1980's time period, but I'm so pumped about doing it! We are planning to have Carter's 1st birthday at the house and hopefully most of you readers will be able to see it when you come to the party. I can't wait to send you more pictures and keep you updated on everything! Check back in on us soon!

La Cucha what?

2009-08-06T07:12:00.000-07:00

FUNNY MOMENT OF THE DAY-
I work in a satellite office of the main headquarters for my agency. We have a little space that no one ever comes to, so we keep the doors locked pretty much at all times. Today was the first day someone has rang the doorbell since I have been here. Just imagine sitting at your desk and suddenly hearing "La Cucha Racha" ringing throughout your office! Very random, and freaking hilarious!..... only problem is now I can't get it out of my head and I've been La Cucha Racha-ing myself all over the building with imaginary maracas in my hands!

a sign from above....

2009-08-05T06:12:00.000-07:00

I got a true a sign from above that I should not be such a heffa'. The only thing that makes my long drive to work in the mornings bearable are my stops for a steamer from Starbucks, or breakfast from Chick-Fl-A. I stopped at the latter and got breakfast today. As I was shnarfing it down, I unknowingly dropped a tater-tot into my lap and it weaseled itself between my thighs. I don't realize it's there until I get to work and see that every time I moved my legs to push the brake or gas pedals I was rubbing that stupid tater deeper and deeper into the crotch of my pants. So, today, after I dressed up for a rich client that I'm seeing, I walk into work with greasy crotch. Dang it!!~

Peanut Butter Cheesecake Brownie Babies

2009-08-03T08:29:00.001-07:00

So, I haven't been completely void of cooking and baking since I've been away. I'm working on getting the recipe up for you guys to a Paula Deen cake that I made. It was INSANELY moist and goooood! But, I guess you'll have to settle for these, which I found in the Kraft Food & Family Magazine (love it!):

Peanut Butter Cheesecake Brownie Babies

1 pkg. (19 to 21 oz.) brownie mix (13x9-inch pan size)

1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened

1/3 cup sugar

1 egg

1/4 cup peanut butter

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1-1/2 cups thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping

20 maraschino cherries

HEAT oven to 350ºF.

PREPARE brownie batter as directed on package. Spoon into 20 paper-lined muffin cups.

BEAT cream cheese, sugar, egg, peanut butter and vanilla with mixer until blended. Spoon 1 rounded Tbsp. into center of batter in each cup, pressing down slightly into batter. Bake 30 min. or until centers are set. Cool.

SERVE topped with COOL WHIP and cherries.

These babies were super fast to make and turned out pretty well. The only thing I would have to say is that "pressing" the peanut butter part into the inside is not as easy as it sounds.

I was in a hurry to make them, so mine didn't turn out as pretty as the picture they have. This is what theirs looks like:

This is how mine turned out after the Cool-Whip had melted:

Doubly Bamboozled

2009-07-27T12:28:00.000-07:00

So, after reading my post about my "Check engine light" that came on my cousin sent me this email.....
"I don't know about up there, but here, if your check engine light comes on, you can go to Auto-zone & they will hook up to your car free of charge & tell you why it is on. It doesn't void the warranty or anything. It will save you a few bucks..."

Dang!!! The only words to sum it up are in the famous words of Homer Simpson-

"DOPE!"

check engine bamboozle

2009-07-22T06:04:00.000-07:00

I've been freaking out lately because my "check engine" light has come on for the first time since I bought my Mazda. My Mazda is a great car, so it surprised me to see that light come on. I wasn't really sure what I was looking at to begin with because I was used to the actual words "CHECK ENGINE" glaring me in the face with my old car, instead of the symbol that's on my Mazda's dashboard. So I said to myself, "What's the dizzle fo'shizzle?," and pulled out my Owner's Manual. Among the many things that could be the problem I read that I need to make sure my gas cap was on tight enough, make sure my oil had been changed, see if there was anything leaking, yada, yada, yada- stuff that I really don't care about and just want it fixed. So, we leave it at the Mazda place for them to check it out and I'm really thinking that we are going to have to replace some huge part and it's going to cost everything that we have in our savings account because we know for them just to check out the car it's going to cost us $65 plus everything else that has to be done.
Then, we get a call from the Mazda place to let us know that there was nothing wrong with the car, I just hadn't gotten the gas cap on tight enough. Evidently you have to make sure it clicks 3 times, and I only had done it 2 times. I payed $65 for them to tell me my gas cap wasn't on tight!~ Have mercy!
I guess that's what I get for ignoring what the owner's manual told me to begin with. Ugh.

July craziness

2009-07-20T12:05:00.000-07:00

Hello friends!!! It's me again! No, I'm not dead... just very busy! I'm back at work now and I'm loving it. The office I'm in is very small compared to the 30 or so people that I'm used to working with. We only have 8 people here and they all have the same title as me and we get along great! It was such a relief to feel like family on the first day. Things are great here. I wish I could load pictures here for you, but I'm missing pieces to my camera. As soon as I find it I will completely bombard you with photos.... no worries friends! Carter is doing so good. His friend, Thomas, is moving up into the "Crawler's" room with him and it'll be fun to see them together again. We have all been missing our friends and "family" back in the mountains. Katie, Kate, Nishelle, our boys.... everyone! It's been so sad to not wake up the the beautiful mountains everyday, but I thank the Lord each morning for bringing our family back together and for giving us the opportunities and blessings that we have here. Keep checking in because I'm totally serious about the pictures. You're not going to know what hit ya'!!!
Much love!
Sara

June update

2009-06-21T10:53:00.001-07:00

So, I finally got a chance to check my email and it's about floooooooded!! Things are going well here. I'm enjoying having stores and civilization much closer to us now. We've been swimming just about every night at the pool and have been able to dunk Carter under the water without him going crazy. Of course, that was no easy feat! Bless his little heart he came back up out of the water screaming and with the worst crazed look in his eyes. He has grown up so much just within the past month and now has 6 teeth. He had 4 come in on top all at one time. He's so cute because those teeth are soooo far apart and you can't help but laugh when he smiles! We're looking into getting internet, so I'm not sure when the next time is that I will be able to post. But, I will be able to post more once I start my job. The job that was offered to me back in March, but then was put on hold due to state budget restrictions called and let me know that I can start whenever I wanted and they were looking forward to having me. Thank you Lord! Looks like I will be starting up mid-July at the office in Durham doing the same thing that I was doing in the mountains. I'm gonna post new pictures but I'm not sure when I will be back! Thanks for checking in on us! Love you guys!

Month of May re-cap

2009-05-28T09:47:00.000-07:00

May has been an incredibly busy month. I can't believe everything is winding down here. Tomorrow is my last day at work. Tomorrow is my last day of my happy little life in the mountains. Tomorrow I move back East to be with my husband and baby again. It's all so crazy. These past 2 weeks have been a roller coaster. I really looked at not having Carter as a big break and a time to re-coop. I think I've worried and miss my little booger so much that it's done the complete opposite of re-cooping. I keep playing the sweet little recording of his laughter on my cell phone, I keep looking at his pictures, and I keep watching little videos of him. I miss him and Phillip so much. I honestly can't believe it's all going to be over tomorrow.
I went home to our new apartment this past weekend. It is lovely. I honestly wasn't sure what to expect. I picked out our apartment online after comparing it to others in the area, sent Phillip to check it out and sign papers, but I have yet to SEE it. It's definitely a big change to go back to apartment living, but it's nice to not worry about the grass, go swimming any time I want, go to the work out room, and not have any stresses over home-ownership. I am looking forward to getting a job and being able to move into a house that Carter can grow up in. But, I'm really taking June off as a time to work on myself. I'm going to go swimming, loose this stupid baby weight, spend time with my husband, and spend time with my baby as much as I want to, whenever I want to. I'm really excited!
OH!!! I ALMOST FORGOT!!! My little man already has his two teeth on the bottom.... now he's got 4 (that's right I said 4!!!!!) coming in on the top all at one time!! Poor baby! He's growing up toooooooo fast for his momma!
Here are some pics to catch you up on what's going on. It's quite a few b/c I've barely posted anything during this month. Keep in mind that tomorrow is my last day at work, and I wont have any other source of internet connection for a while until we get something at our new place (who knows when that will be!)

This was his first time in his stroller without being in his car-seat attachment!! My big boy!

He's constantly got his tongue hanging out feeling those little teethies that are coming in!

Carter's last day with his babysitter. He's gonna miss these girls!

Saying goodbye to our awesome babysitter

Striking the "Playboy" pose

My grandmother loooves to feed me!

Wheeeeeeee!!

"Cool Rider"

Lil man has "happy feet" all the time now. Whenever he's having a bottle, or swinging, sitting in his hi-chair, anything, he's got his little feet going!

I'm such a happy boy when you walk with me!

Getting ready to swim!

On our way to the pool at our new apartment

Mommy loves him A LOT!

"Sailing, Sailing, I can sail with you! I can sail my little yellow boat across the ocean blue!"

PRECIOUS!~

Checkin' out the laaaadies!

We got, maybe, 5 steps away from the pool and he had already conked out!

This is what we feel about Auburn. What can I say, he's a 'Bama boy!

I love this pic! This is where he's saying "yuuuh, yuuuhh, yuhhh!" and "mamamamaa!"

Carter loves Gizzy, but Gizzy's still a little hesitant!

Carter's new swing on our patio

Weeeee!! I love my swing!

Lil man playing with his Aunt 'Mamie and Paisley

Life is sad, but good...

2009-05-19T06:36:00.000-07:00

It's times like these that I remember how good it is to have my life. Things are very sad right now with Phillip taking the last bit of stuff from the house this weekend and leaving with Carter for the next two weeks. But, things are also very good. Every one of our guy friends came and helped us pack and get our stuff moved out, and all my girlfriends have been in touch with me to show their support and love in such a hard time. I love how my "family" always comes through. And I put "family" in quotations because I truly consider my friends to be part of our family. They were always there supporting and loving Phillip and I through the beginning of our relationship, through marriage, through child birth, and through Carter growing up. They are good people and I'm proud to call them my friends and "family." Speaking of family, my mom and dad came up this past weekend to help us pack the last bit and we couldn't have done it without them. I love seeing my parents with Carter. It's magical. They are so good with him and just love him so much. I'm looking forward to being closer to them.
We signed on the house yesterday. Very, very sad, but also a huge weight off our shoulders. Kate came over last night to help me pack the last bit of stuff and take it off for storage. I just cried and cried over the house being empty and leaving so many memories. I'm glad she was there. Her hugs were the best thing to keep me going. I'm staying with her and Nishelle for the next 2 weeks and things have started off very well. We laughed and talked all night last night and we're going for crazy Chinese dinner and shopping tonight. It's just what I need to take my mind off things. Well, I actually need to work today, so I'm gonna go. I'll post pics of our house as soon as I can. I wont be posting pics of the apartment because we don't plan on putting anything on the walls or personalizing it because we really don't plan on being their long. Feel free to come and stay with us though!!! We love house-guests!!

Mother's Day Moving

2009-05-13T08:07:00.000-07:00

This was my 1st Mother's Day.

It was a bummer to have to pack everything, but still great because I was with my boys. I wish I could have been home with my mom and my sister to celebrate their special day with them, but it just wasn't in the cards. Instead, we spent the entire weekend packing our crap and sending it to Burlington. Phillip and our friends were fantastic and loaded up that truck in a day. Bless his heart, then he had to take the truck home and unload it by himself! I'm getting extra nervous about moving these days. We sign papers on our house this coming Monday. Then, our beloved "Beechwood" home will no longer be ours. On Monday Phillip will be taking Carter back to Burlington with him, and I will have 2 more weeks here working so I can continue to have insurance for a little bit longer. I will not have my own home. I will not have my own bed. I will be living out of a suitcase. Fortunately, my loving friend, Kate, has agreed to take me in and I will be crashing on her couch for those 2 weeks. I will miss my friends when I leave. I finally started loving this place and feeling secure and at home, and we're leaving. My friends from high school moved up and are just living down the mountain from me, and we're leaving. Besides the 2 weeks of rain we've had, we've had great weather lately. Carter and I have have been having nightly strolls before his bath. We've met soooo many neighbors who have been been walking also, who stop to tell me how cute my baby is, and I say "I know!" (TOOOOOTALLY KIDDING!!!) I've finally met my neighbors, and we're moving! Our house is cut into the side of a mountain and our neighbors are close enough to get help from if we need, but far enough away to really never have any contact with them. That's really been the only complaint about my house. I grew up in a culdasac where I knew all my neighbors, they babysat me growing up, I babysat their kids when I was older, and we all walked across yards to borrow a cup of flour if we needed it. There's none of that here. Not to mention, since you have to drive up the mountain to get to our house, there's no mailboxes because the mailmen can't get there. But, that's just moutain living. Pretty much nobody here has a mailbox. We all have P.O. boxes. But, at the bottom of our development is a line of mailboxes that got so large that a sign went up saying "No more boxes" and only half our neighborhood has a box out there. When we first moved in we drove by the boxes and didn't see one for our house so we just kept our P.O. box. We've had that box for almost 5 years. Phillip had it before we got married. Last night, on our little walk, I meandered up that hill next to the boxes and lo-and-behold..... WE HAVE A FREAKIN' MAILBOX! It's completely out of order and out of place with the order of house numbers and street numbers.... but it's in there hiding!! Arg!!! And now, that we've lived there for a couple of years, and we're signing papers in 5 days, and moving away, I find our mailbox. Of course.
Anyway. I had a nice lunch on Mother's Day. Phillip got me an awesome book because I commented to him about how I don't have time to myself to even crack a book. I've attempted to read it the past two nights. So far, I've read half of the "forward". He also got me the only video game that I can play. We bought it when we first got married and somehow lost it over the years, but he bought it for me again so I can be part of the "Wii" console. Personally, I think he bought it so he can laugh at me losing the games over and over again and getting waaaaay to into the game so much that I'm screaming and bouncing around the room along with whatever the characters are doing.
Thanks for checking in on us. We are doing well and I'm enjoying my last few days with my baby until he's with his daddy for 2 weeks. I just realized that I have to pack my office and there's about as much much crap here as there is in my house. Yikes.

"Confusion?" says Confusious

2009-05-05T06:55:00.000-07:00

I'm confused and annoyed. I work for the Public Health system for my state. My office will not allow us to spend time on websites that don't pertain to work (ooooops!) such as facebook, myspace, youtube, or any other place where you download or upload information, pictures, or music. We are also not permitted to go on AIM or any other chat programs. But, they are encouraging us to make a Twitter account and follow them on their posts. That's right. My state's Public Health system has a Twitter account and they want us to use work time to follow them on the H1N1 (Swine flu) outbreak and other subjects and post back any questions or thoughts/feelings. Does that make any sense to you? Nope, me either. I'm annoyed by this.

In other news, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. My last day at work is May 29th. Yup, just a few weeks away. No, I still haven't heard when I should be starting at my next job. I talked to my future boss the other day and she said the paperwork was in it's last stages for approval on April 3rd, but no paperwork is moving in the department that it's currently at. The budget crisis has been putting everything on hold and there's no telling when I will, or if I will be accepted to start work at the other branch that I'm supposed to be moving to.
Keep us in your thoughts this weekend. Phillip is getting a moving truck and we will be filling it up as much as possible to take a large load to our temporary apartment. Lord help me!

The Chosen One

2009-05-01T06:06:00.000-07:00

And the winner is...... Eco!!!

They are soooo pretty and the polka dots just won me over. I got some great discounts for being a first time buyer and free shipping!! Who can beat that!? The company I bought them from is brightandbold.com and they are just too awesome. They got my order processed the same day and I should be receiving my bags in about a week! I can't wait!
I was crusing the website after my purchase and found this:

It's goggles to keep you from crying when you chop onions!! How funny is that!! Actually, it's not funny..... I COULD TOTALLY USE A PAIR!! This little pansy tears up like nobody's business when she's cutting onions. I'm seriously thinking I might have to bust out some swimming goggles next time I chop onions!!

Friendly Shopper

2009-04-27T09:18:00.001-07:00

So, I'm making an effort to be a little more environmentally savy. I have been brainstorming on recycling and how to be more efficient once we move down east, and how I can make this something cute, and not just an eye-sore. Yes, I'm sorry, I went there.... my recycling must be cute. Don't give me any crap about it. It makes more likely to do it, so there!
Next thing- shopping bags. No one asks anymore if you want paper or plastic when you go shopping. They just plop your goodies into a plastic bag and send you on your happy little way. So, for this reason, I have a boat-load of plastic bags at home that I use for my lunches and baggies for poop-covered clothes that may happen during outings with Carter. I'm really looking into getting re-usable shopping bags and I can't make my mind up. I've really done a lot of research on this (yes, there is research that comes with buying shopping bags!!!) and Envirosax seem to be the best. They have wide straps and a very wide mouth so I can stuff it with as much crap as I can to inevitably squish my bread as much as I can (seriously, I can't buy bread without 1/2 of it being a smooshed casualty!) I need your help choosing the pattern, flora or botannica.

Flora

Botannica

I'm realllllly leaning towards the botannica, but the Flora is sold on Amazon with free shipping. I'm thinking I'm going green on this one.... as in saving some green and getting the free shipping. What do you think? (extra addition side note!! Price differences are no longer an issue!! I found a great price on all the patterns so help me choose if you can!)

Extra Addition!!!!!
Ok, after researching a little more (don't laugh!) I found this pattern!!!!! I think I might be suckered in with the polka-dots!!!

Eco

Weekend rewind

2009-04-23T11:44:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was so lovely. So nice. So short. My parents came up with Phillip and helped watch the baby while we packed up the house and did all the other necessary evils that come with getting a house ready to move-out. We had beautiful weather and such a great time. I will truly miss my little home. I feel like it's a vacation get-away for my family. I physically see the stress melt off my parents and my other relatives when they come to stay with us. I'm thinking it's our great porch outside or maybe even the beautiful orange paint. Yup, it's the paint. No, even better, it's the hostess. Heh heh! We didn't get much packed but it's ok because we enjoyed laughing and being a family. My parents are great and always do so much for my sister and I. I couldn't ask for a better set of parents.
I'm starting to tear up so I'm moving on......

Phillip and I got a place to live down east in Whitsett. The official move in date is May 1st. So, we'll be packing our stuff here and sending it down as soon as we can. I'm not really sure when we'll actually be living there. Definitely by our closing date, which has been moved to May 22nd. Our place has a lease of 4 months because we're hoping to find another house by then. I'm looking forward to apartment living again, but only for the pool! I can't wait to get Carter baby in that pool! I still haven't gotten word from the state that they've accepted the paperwork on my job, so just keep praying for us please!
We're headed home this weekend for my best friend's little boy's 1st birthday. I can't wait to see them! Little Parker has grown so much and I can't wait to celebrate Monica's special anniversary with her.
Carter was in his hi-chair for the first time last night. Holy cow that thing swallowed him!! He's been eating in his Bumbo with the tray until he mastered sitting up well. My little guy is growing too fast. He's holding a bottle by himself and I swear he's saying "momma" when he gets upset. It's soooo clear! I love it! Here are the pics from last night. Lil blue-eyed man was enjoying some peas for dinner and loves to wear it!

Teeth!!

2009-04-20T11:03:00.001-07:00

(click picture for close up)

You like my 2 teeth?? My gummy grin is alllllll gone!!

Easter Baby

2009-04-16T12:47:00.001-07:00

We had such a great Easter Break. It was too short, of course, and we didn't get to see family enough. Carter was toooooo freakin' cute in his Easter outfit and was so well behaved in church. I really didn't expect him to do so well but he stayed quite or slept. We went to my mother-in-law's church and it really made me miss my old church, Homestead Heights (currently "The Summit") and all of it's people. It is such a great place and I always felt at home. Not to say that these people didn't make us feel welcome, but it's just not the same. AAAAANYWAYS! Paisley did an awesome job dyeing her Easter Eggs and went crazy when she was hunting them. She's growing up too fast! Jacob loved hunting his Eggs also and was naming every one of them as he went. He is so smart and catches on so quick. It's hard to believe both of them will be 2 this summer. Lordy time flies! Here are our pics. I wish I had pics from Paisley's egg hunt, but those are on my dad's camera. Enjoy!

It's insane how much he looks like his daddy!!!

Family shot at Easter Lunch

HELLLLOOOOO!!

Jacob hunting eggs

Phillip's brother (Brian), his son (Jacob), my mother-in-law, Carter, and Phillip

My sweet boy!

I hope you all had a great Easter. Time to get back to work! So glad the weekend is almost here!
Much love,
Sara

Dipping Deliciousness

2009-04-08T06:07:00.000-07:00

Hi guys! I hope you are all doing well. We've had quite the turn in weather here. Phillip came up this weekend and it was soooo beautiful and we walked around Lake Junaluska and spent pretty much all weekend doing family stuff and enjoying the beautiful weather. Then, the next day I'll be darned if it weren't snowing! Gotta love living in the mountains! You never know what to expect! But it did give me a chance to have Carter wear his "Elmer Fudd" hat one last time before the winter is over and snap a shot like this on our way to the babysitters:

It was such a fantastic weekend though, and I'm glad we took advantage of being outside. We went and fed ducks and fish at Junaluska and I got such great pictures of lil man and his daddy. I'll share them with you as soon as my camera gets charged.
I finally got a chance to cook something really great a week or two ago. It turned out SO INCREDIBLY fantastic. I got the recipe off another blog where a woman has been using her crockpot EVERY SINGLE DAY to fix her family's meals. My pictures of the meal are at the bottom, but here is the recipe from her site:

French Dips

4 lbs beef roast, I actually buy Beef Round Sandwich Steak, (meaning it is already sliced)
1 (10.5 oz) can of beef broth
2 (10.5 oz) cans of Condensed French Onion Soup
1 (12 oz) bottle of dark beer (I only use 1/2 the bottle)
1Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp garlic powder
6 French Rolls (I like Sara Lee)
Butter

Put the butter into the bottom of the crockpot and turn on. Add the meat, garlic, and onions, and swirl around in the butter.

Pour in the broth, beer, and cooking sherry. Add pepper and Worcestershire sauce.

Cover and cook on low for 7-9 hours.

If your meat is still in large chunks, remove it carefully, and slice. Return the meat back to the broth.

Serve on rolls. I made rolls from the Whole Foods 365 bread mix, and added some cheddar cheese to the sandwiches. Traditionally, gruyere is used.

Dip the sandwich into the broth before each bite for a nice juicy flavor and consistency

Verdict- LIP SMACKING GOOD!!! Holy Hannah! I made this sandwich twice since then because it's sooooo good. I got a little confused with the recipe though and had to vear off on my own a few times. She has two different recipes (one for gluten free and one not) and these instructions mention things that are not listed in the ingredients list abopve (the sherry and extra onions) and I'm glad I had some in my house because it really added to it. I got a little confused with the meat selection and ended up buying a beef bottom round. I sliced it very very thin (and let me tell you this was incredibly difficult and also got my gag reflex going) by hand. The second time I made it I had the butcher slice it as thin as he could get it and it was still thicker than what I did. I ended up preferring my hand sliced better. I also used a different type of cheese. I used provolone and it rocked! I also added more Wocestershire sauce than what it called for and it gave it so much more flavor. It definitely only took about 4 hours for my meat to cook, but I also sliced it very thin. I really encourage everyone to make this recipe because it was more than easy, so delicious, and soooooo good. And besides, who could ask for anything more fabulous than coming home from a hard day at work and already having dinner ready? Awesome right!!?? Here are my pics from that dinner:

Down right delicious!!!!

Yipppppeeee Skipppeeee!!!

2009-04-03T07:13:00.001-07:00

Great news!!!! We got a great offer on the house and we will be closing May 18th!!!!! I can't believe it's actually happening!! I'm so excited, but I'm so sad! I am just so happy someone loves our house as much as we do. Lord knows we would probably live there forever if we could because it's so perfect and beautiful, but there are other plans for us and hopefully things will move quickly and with no hick-ups. I have no idea where I'm going to live if my job offer doesn't come through by the time we sign papers. I guess I'll have to rent a place here for a month or two.
To clue you in on the job stuff...... I am transferring to another branch within my agency down east. It takes FOREVER for the state to approve jobs, so I'm just waiting on the budget department to say that they have the funds for me to transfer. But, I was offered the job back in March and accepted immediately. Our agency has been known to take 2-6 months to get someone in a position and I'm really hoping it doesn't take long.
But, anyway..... YAY FOR GREAT NEWS ON THE HOUSE!!! Have a great weekend everyone!

"Gonna eat me a lot of peaches..."

2009-04-01T08:22:00.000-07:00

I forgot to tell you!! Carter had his first real food!! We have been giving him peaches this week and he loves them!! That lil' man can do work on some peaches!

Our vacation in Florida

2009-04-01T07:33:00.000-07:00

So, we went to Disney World for 2 days and had a blast. You definitely dont realize how much you get pampered in that park until you leave and go somewhere else. On our last day in Florida we went down to the Kennedy Space Center to watch the shuttle land and it was very apparent to us that we had it made in Disney. We were sitting at lunch and were constantly bombarded by birds and bugs. There is none of that in Disney. How is that? The grounds were incredibly cleaned and the trash was always being wheeled out. The bathrooms were always spic-and-span too. Very weird, but VERY lovely. Carter stayed with mine and Phillip's folks while we were away and it was sooooo nice to get away, but I missed my little fella so much. I tell ya, the perfect time to go to Florida is definitely March. The weather was FANTASTIC!! It was warm, but not excessively hot. The wind was blowing so nicely that everytime you did start to sweat you didn't realize it. I got quite the farmers tan while I was there b/c I couldn't feel the heat at all. Disney has got it together in ways of keeping customers happy, lines moving, and service quick. They have these things called a "Fast Pass" now where you can grab a pass that puts you at the front of the line of a ride with very little or no waiting. You have to come back to that ride within a specified time slot, so that really helped us plan our day accordingly and not spend hours waiting for a 3 minute ride. I will have to remember next time not to ride a water ride first thing in the morning. I looked like a frizzy poodle for the rest of the day.... yikes! Also, Epcot had an event called the International Flower and Garden Festival that was just AMAZING. They had 7 foot characters all over the park and it was just insanely gorgeous. Epcot is divided into "countries" to visit and all the characters that went with that country were outside meeting and greeting guests and they also had the flower characters outside that country. So, Belle (from Beauty and the Beast) was in France, Aladdin was in Morraco, and so on. It was just awesome. Here are some of the pics. Enjoy!

My FAVORITE Disney story- Cinderella

These sequined Minnie-Mouse ears were awesome!!

I about let me tongue fall out of my mouth when I saw these GINORMOUS rice-crispy treats. They were HUGE!

Cinderella's castle illuminated before the fireworks show

As I stated before, awful farmers tan, and wet rat....

Tinkerbell inside the "Fairies Garden" (If you click on this pic it's a little creepy. A giant bee flew onto her face and made her look like she had one eye. It's much prettier w/o the bee)

Looking at the Epcot Ball as we went across the lake

Mickey's main squeeze

Mrs. Potts, Chip, and Cogsworth

What can I say? Disney pimped my ride.

The entrance to Epcot. You have to click on this one to see how pretty these truly were.
From left to right: Belle, Beast, Prince Charming, Cinderella, Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs behind her

Inside the Animal Kingdom- The most insanely gorgeous tree that had orchids growing in it!!

Kennedy Space Center