Monday, May 18, 2009

She's 3!

Chocolate: Here we come!


We leave tomorrow for our trip to Hershey, PA!  We have been counting down for a month now, so we are more than ready.  I think in my duaghter's mind we are going to eat chocolate day and night, and if it were up to me, we would.  :)

I'll let you know how it goes.  Should be interesting with a 3 year old and an 8 month old.

Gardening



Sunday we spent the afternoon outside cleaning up the bushes.  Since I wouldn't let her use the real clippers she ran inside and got her "Philipe" and used that to "trim" the bushes.

Cut the Grass

Little things that my daugher says crack me up. Today my husband came upstairs and my daughter said "What are you doing Daddy?"  He said "I'm going to go cut the grass."  As he was walking out the door she runs over to him and says "Don't forget this!"
Don't you just love how a 3 year olds mind works.

Sunday, May 10, 2009

My Mother's Day



I had a wonderful Mother's Day today.  My husband woke up early with our daughter and brought B. up to nurse while he fixed French Toast on Texas toast.  It was so good!  He even had a side of fresh strawberries!

My presents this year were yellow roses, cards, and two pieces of artwork from my daughter.  It was wonderful!  I also ordered a few pieces of clothing from Boden that counted as part of my gift.

Pink Please.

When we went grocery shopping this week we made a stop in an aisle I usually avoid, the cake aisle.  I don't go down there unless I need some baking goods because I can't avoid buying brownies, or cakes, or breads...

This week was different though, we needed 2 birthday cake mixes.  One for her actual birthday and one for her "friend" party.  For her friend party I knew we needed a white icing because I bought a cake topper that has a white background.  For her actual birthday cupcakes I let her choose.  

She stood in the aisle a long time looking over all the cakes.  Would she choose, yellow, brown, white, or pink?  After much consideration she choose pink with pink icing.  So, strawberry cake with strawberry icing it was!

I could resist buying the little Tinkerbell toppers as well as Tinkerbell cupcake holders.

We made them tonight.  She helped pour in the ingredients, helped me hold the mixer, and even put the cupcake holders in the pan. 


Of course we had to taste test them tonight.  I must admit, they are very good, nice and moist.


Tomorrow will be a trip to the Greenfield Village (weather permitting), presents, cake, and Red Robin for a birthday dinner.

Her Last Day...

of being a 2 year old!  I cannot believe that my sweet girl will be 3 tomorrow.  Time has flown by in a flash.
Her last picture as a 2 year old.

You Are My Sunshine


My only sunshine. 
You make me happy 
When skies are grey. 
You'll never know, dear, 
How much I love you. 
Please don't take my sunshine away.

Saturday, May 9, 2009

Dress Drama


Remember that dress that I talked about in this post?  Well, it arrived and fit like a glove...and I sent it back.  Let me go back a day.

So, I get up and check my e-mail to find that J.Crew is having a big sale.  I go to check out the dresses and find the one pictured above.  It is on sale for 1/3 of the price I paid for the other one and basically the same cut. The only difference is the fabric and the sleeves.  So, I ordered it.  I also found out later that day that the other dress, the pink one, was the same color as the bridesmaids dresses.  Now THAT would have been embarrassing!

So, the new dress shipped. I hope it fits as well as the other one.  I ordered the lavender color pictured. What color would you use for accessories/shoes?

Being a full time mother


is one of the highest salaried jobs... since the payment 
is pure love. ~Mildred B. Vermont

This picture was taken on my first Mother's Day.  My daughter was born on Thursday and because of an emergency c-section, we weren't allowed to come home until Sunday.  So, my first Mother's Day was spent in our bedroom nursing and sleeping all day. I couldn't have been happier.

Last year, I shared my Mother's Day with my daughter's 2nd birthday.  It was a wonderful day and although we celebrated her birthday that day, I still got some Mother's Day love.

This year is my first Mother's Day as a Mom of 2.  My husband has a homemade breakfast planned and then a day with my 3 favorite people.  I'll post pics later.

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful Mothers out there!

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

High Energy Breakfast

Looking for a high energy breakfast?  Well, here is an option.  Muesli is a mixture of rolled oats, dried fruits, nuts, and seeds.  It adheres to a blue zone diet and a mediterranean diet.   



I boiled it with milk for 5 minutes and ate one serving. It lasted until lunch. Tomorrow I'm going to try it made the same way only I'm adding in some fresh blackberries.  I also read that you can add honey, but it was plenty sweet for me without the honey.


Recipe: Meat and Veggie Soup


This recipe was given to me by my Mother-in-law.  I make it with or without the meat.  On this day, I made it without the meat.  I also used all frozen veggies. I usually buy a mixed bag of veggies, but Meijer had a sale on veggies so I just bought a bunch of frozen and placed them in the freezer downstairs for later use.



Ingredients:
1 lb. of hamburger meat (optional)
2 cups water
1 can stewed tomatoes
1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
1 pkg. french onion soup
1 pkg. mixed frozen veggies
1 tsp. sugar (optional)

Brown hamburger and drain.  Add the remaining ingredients into the pot.  Simmer until the veggies are at your desired softness.

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Wanna Go for a Ride?



Open Sandman!



Our Sandbox is officially open for the season!  We got new sand and A. has been in it every day that has been not raining.  

Baby B. does not like grass, he stares at it on his blanket in disgust because he wants to go get his sister, but that awful grass stands in his way.  So, I didn't even think of putting him in the sandbox.  It was only after some begging by his big sister and her telling me that B. really wants to play in the sandbox that I gave in and put him in there. As you can see, he loves it!

Now let's hope he doesn't get over his grass dislike any time soon because I like that he stays on the blanket!  :)

All Cloth, All the Time




We are officially in cloth diapers 100% of the time.  I use mostly Fuzzy Bunz and Bum Genius.  I have one Happy Heineys that I love, so if I need more, I thinkI'll get more of this one.  I also have an all in one called SposoEasy that I really like, but B. is between sizes on it so the one he has will be too small on his next growth spurt, not sure if I'll replace it or not.

We had one leaking incident when we went shopping at Old Navy and Bed Bath and Beyond.  I didn't realize how long we had been shopping an he had a leak on his leg.   Other than that, they've worked great!

Friday, May 1, 2009

Summer Wedding


I am going to my college roommates wedding in June.   I'm so happy that she found a wonderful guy and is getting married!  

Her wedding starts at 4:30 pm and the reception is at 6:00 pm.  The wedding takes place in a church and the reception is at her family farm.

I'm considering buying the above dress from J.Crew.  What do you think?  I thinkI'll pair it with silver heels and simple jewelry.

I'm considering tea rose, fresh mint, or clover. I like the peppermint, but I think it's too close to white for a wedding.

Ideas?  Other dresses?

Hey Blondie!


When I think of myself, I think of myself as a blonde.  I go through these moods though when I feel the need to simplify or save money or be lazy and I go back to my original yucky blondish/brown color.  I did this in December and have been living with my natural *shudder* color for months.  

With summer coming up I just couldn't get my blonde self out of mind, so I took the plunge and went back to blonde.  I so wish I could dye my hair myself, but when I do it it comes out this funky reddish/gold color that isn't pretty at all. I've tried different brands, different types, and still no luck.  After making this (very expensive) mistake more than once I leave it to the pro's now!

Shoes!



I know what you are saying, "Not another shoe post!" But oh yes, It's anohter shoe post!

What feels like a million years ago, I used to be a big shoe person. I loved shoes and bought a lot of shoes.  When I moved to Michigan from Illinois my future father in law saw my stack of shoe boxes and said "Are all those yours?!"  Yes, yes they were!

Over the last few years it seems like I have been donating/throwing out more shoes than I have been buying.  Well, not anymore!  I'm back in shoe mode and read to buy, much to my husbands dismay!

I got these shoes at Target. I had been watching a pair on JCrew for  a few weeks and was so excited to find them for 1/4 of the cost at my old stand-by!  I wore them to the Village and they weren't bad. Not as comfy as my Croc Capris, but tolerable.

I went back to get the black pair, but they were sold out. I guess brown will have to do!