Easter Baby

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

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!!!

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..."

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

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

Vacation from everything!

Sorry I've been gone for so long. I've been slammed at work trying to catch up on things so that we can do this:




That's right! I finally got away! It was so nice to be able to spend time with my hubbie again and reconnect with him. I had three days of having him allllll to myself! I can't believe it's been 2 months since he moved down east. Things are looking up for our family being in the same city again, but I'll keep you updated on those details as soon as they are finalized. I can't wait to share our pictures from our vacation, but I wanted to update you on Carter first. Lil man will be 6 months old in 12 days!! I can't stinking believe it. He has grown and changed so much. Here are a few pics to catch you up.

My lil' mooshy-faced man

So fresh and clean!!!

Hey! Those are mine!

I love this gummy smile! This is his favorite towel and just looooves it when his mommy puts him in it.

Hanging out on mommy's bed

View from the front

View from the back- I'm getting my booty up in the crawling position!!!

Hanging out with my mommy by the river on a beautiful day
(His sideways hat reminds me of the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Can you hear the song in the background- "In west Philladelphia, born and raised. On a playground is where I spent most of my days. Chillin' out maxin' relaxin all cool and shootin' some b-ball outside of the school.....")

Group picture my best friend and her little boy when they came up to visit

Carter and Parker

Monica and Parker during their visit

Can't wait to share pics and details from our trip to Florida with you!
Much love-
Sara

Wee bit o' luck

He's my lucky charm: