Who LOVES chicken!

If you love chicken as much as me, then head on over to
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Figuring it out

I have been trying to figure out who I am and what I enjoy doing. I know that I am a mom, a wife, and a student, but what things am I good at?  I used to love to craft and could make any project with no problems. Now, it seems that I can't really make anything just off the top of my head. I have to look up ideas and sit there for a while. I have gotten into baking and I think it's my passion. I love to bake and try new recipes. I am always looking up new things, watching cooking and baking shows, and seeing what I can do next. If I could bake and get paid for it, I would be in heaven! I am so relieved to have actually figured out what I really enjoy and something that I am good at. Baking and cooking is something that I really enjoy and do to get away from everything. It's what I like to do in my free time other than shopping. : ) My family doesn't seem to have a problem with it either. I do admit that not all of my recipes are good or come out perfect, but I enjoy trying at least.  So, what I am telling you is that... watch out! You're going to get a lot more recipes on here. Some of them are new and some of them I have been using for a couple years, but just now adding.

Hope you all are enjoying the recipes. Let me know any input that you may have.

Alfredo Sauce

I found this recipe a couple of years ago and fell in love with it. It is such an easy recipe and tastes amazing. This is one of my husband's favorite recipes. He always looks forward to it when I make it and we fight over left overs. This recipe make a lot of sauce which is nice because my husband is a big eater and as I previously said we love the leftovers. I did not tweak this recipe at all. I didn't find a need for it. I found this recipe on allrecipes.com. If you try this recipe, please comment back and let me know what you think and if you would change anything about it.

What you need: 

1/2 cup butter 

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese

2 teaspoons garlic powder 

2 cups milk 

6 ounces grated Parmesan cheese 

1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions

Melt butter in a medium, non-stick saucepan over medium heat. Add cream cheese and garlic powder, stirring with wire whisk until smooth. Add milk, a little at a time, whisking to smooth out lumps. Stir in Parmesan and pepper. Remove from heat when sauce reaches desired consistency. Sauce will thicken rapidly, thin with milk if cooked too long. Toss with hot pasta to serve.

Chaos!!

These past couple of weeks have been very hectic and flying by before I can even realize what day it is. I started school again this week. I wasn't sure how it was going to go, especially since it's been so crazy lately. I was kind of worried about it to be truthful. I have so much going on and when I have a chance to sit down and do nothing, I would like to take it. Jeff takes two classes on top of his work schedule and knew that I would be the one to put off their school in order to get stuff done or to take care of Maddie. BUT I SURVIVED!!!!! well.. you know the first week. It's a start! I can only do a week at a time. I did have to stay up a little later each night in order to get the reading done. This week I also had my first Thirty-one party. Well.. not really. I had it set for September 2nd and then realized that we had plans already. I, then, moved it to the 9th. Little did I realize, the base was throwing a luau. So, everyone that I had invited already had planned to go to that. One friend did come over and order and then we all headed to the luau. Yesterday, we hung out at the house and worked on school work. Today, we stayed around the house and worked on more school work. Do you see a pattern???
This week will probably be another busy week with speech, playgroups, homework, and homework.

Anyway, if anyone is interested in looking at thirty-one products, you can go to www.mythirtyone.com/LoriBoone

Until next time, have fun and be safe! 

Apple Pie Fold over

I got this recipe off of Pillsbury.com. This is a really simply and tasty treat. It was really good and the perfect size for a desert! This recipe is definitely a keeper in our house hold. 

 

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups thinly sliced, peeled apples (1 1/2 medium)

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

2 tablespoons water

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon butter or margarine

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 box Pillsbury® refrigerated pie crusts

1 egg

DIRECTIONS

1 In 2-quart saucepan, mix apples, brown sugar, 1 tablespoon of the water and the lemon juice. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until bubbly. Reduce heat to low; cover and cook 6 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until apples are tender. 2 In small bowl, mix flour, granulated sugar and salt. Gradually stir into apple mixture, cooking and stirring until mixture thickens. Remove from heat; stir in butter and vanilla. Cool 15 minutes. 3 Meanwhile, heat oven to 375°F. Let pie crust pouch stand at room temperature for 15 minutes. 4 Remove pie crust from pouch; unroll crust on ungreased cookie sheet. Spoon cooled fruit mixture evenly onto half of crust to within 1/2 inch of edge. 5 In small bowl, beat egg and 1 tablespoon water; brush over edge of crust. Fold untopped half of crust over apple mixture; firmly press edge to seal. Flute edge; cut small slits in several places in top crust. Brush top with remaining egg mixture. 6 Bake 25 to 35 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Serve warm or cool.

Tart apples, such as Granny Smith or McIntosh, make flavorful pies. Braeburn or Gala apples provide good texture and a slightly sweeter flavor.

french bread rolls

• 1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 cups bread flour

Directions

1. In a large bowl, stir together warm water, yeast, and sugar. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
2. To the yeast mixture, add the oil, salt, and 2 cups flour. Stir in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough has pulled away from the sides of the bowl. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl, and turn to coat. Cover with a damp cloth, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.
3. Deflate the dough, and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into 16 equal pieces, and form into round balls. Place on lightly greased baking sheets at least 2 inches apart. Cover the rolls with a damp cloth, and let rise until doubled in volume, about 40 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). 
4. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown.  

I got this recipe from All Recipes. This bread recipe wasn't as good as the other recipe I posted previously in my opinion. Maybe it was because it wasn't as sweet as I normally like it to be. If you try it, let me know what you think. :)

Pineapple Salsa

Ingredients

• 2 cups chopped fresh pineapple
• 1 cup chopped red and/or green bell pepper
• 1/2 cup sweet onion slivers
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons chopped cilantro
• 1 fresh jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped (or more to taste)

Directions

1. Blend pineapple, bell pepper, onion, lemon juice, cilantro and jalapeno pepper in medium bowl.
2. Refrigerate, covered for 4 to 24 hours, if desired, stirring occasionally.
3. Serve with grilled chicken or seafood or as an appetizer with chips.

I just threw the items together. I didn't measure anything. I did tweak a few items. I used canned crushed pineapple rather than fresh and two jalapenos instead of one and put more cilantro in it. 

If you try this recipe, let me know if you tweaked it and how you liked it. 

It's going to be a busy week!

This past Friday I had the privilege to out to dinner and a movie with some fabulous ladies. We started off at Ruby Tuesdays. I did not know any of these ladies going into the dinner. This is something very out of my norm for me. I was nervous going into this because I am such a shy person until you get to know me. I met seven ladies and are fabulous. It was so easy to talk to them and we all had so much in common since we are all mothers of youngin's and all have at least some sort of military experience if not married to a military man. After dinner, we went to the movie theater and saw "The Help". If you have not seen that movie, I highly recommend you go see it. It was such a good movie. Some of the ladies told me that the movie did the book justice. I want to get the book just so I can compare now. I had so much fun. They were all very kind and invited me to join another play group and events that they attend.

Saturday was another long day. We got up pretty early and immediately got ready. If you know us, you know that we don't get ready right away on weekends unless we have to. I needed to head back to Walgreens to get the items that they were out of earlier in the week and then to CVS and Walmart. Jeff wanted to go to the gun show with a few other marines. I met up with them for lunch and then finally home to get Maddie a nap before we had to go to a friends BBQ. Jeff and I made some Pineapple salsa which every one enjoyed. We kept getting compliments. We had a lot of fun at the BBQ, but didn't get to stay long. Maddie was really worn out from the day and only getting an hour nap in when she is used to a three hour nap. Got her home, a bath, and finally in bed about an hour and a half then she should have been.

Today, we got up and went to church. It was a good service. Maddie had a lot of fun. One of the ladies in charge told us that she is very talkative now and more open than she was last time. After church, we went to Harbor Freight really quick and then to lunch. Old Navy was our next-and last- stop for the day. We got Maddie a few outfits for Christmas.


Finally, we are home. What a long, but fun weekend. This weekend is going to be just as busy. Play dates, birthday parties, speech therapy, and more play dates. This entire week has something to do each day. Maddie will have a lot of fun because it is all for her. She will have plenty of time to play with other kids her age.

I'll post the pineapple salsa in a minute. Hope every one is having a good weekend.

Until next time, have fun but be safe!

Ipad Case :)

Our Military Home is having an Ipad cover giveaway that is super cute! You should check it out and enter yourself! If you don't have one, it could be a great gift to someone who has one. : )

http://www.ourmilitaryhome.com/?p=1547

Just what I needed

I have been feeling a little off lately and I didn't know what to do about it. I had all of these plans and they are a little harder to achieve than I previously thought. I thought maybe I made a mistake choosing that path and got pretty down with the start of my new career as an independent consultant for Thirty-one. I was starting to doubt myself. There are some other things in life that wasn't going according to plan, but, hey, that's life right? I decided that I wanted to attempt church again. I always knew that once I had children that I wanted church to be a part of our lives. We went to church in Texas and I really loved the place. I felt so comfortable there and looked forward to going. We tried church here, but it just wasn't the same. Last night, I looked up that church and decided to give it another chance. I found that the church had another location with a younger Pastor and thought I would give it a try. It was a 30 minute drive, but if I liked it then I didn't care. Maddie and I went and tried it out. Jeff had other plans already set in place, so he didn't go this time. I am so glad that we went. It was exactly what I needed. I had a new outlook on things and I walked out with a ton of weight lifted off my shoulders. I was so relieved that after listening to the Pastor talk that I knew that this was the church for me. It felt as if they were talking right to me. I look forward to next Sunday.

Maddie has been sick lately. She is getting her two year molars and this round has been a doozy.. She has had diarrhea for a week, moody, tired, not really eating, extremely sensitive and so much more. I felt bad for her. I tried to help her as much as I could. She was so cuddly. She has been feeling good the past two days for the most part. Her appetite has been coming back and she is not as temperamental. We have her cardiology appt tomorrow. I am not looking forward to seeing her doctor again. He's not the nicest guy on Earth.

Jeff's class is about to graduate, so his work schedule might be a little less stressful and strenuous. He is currently taking two online classes, so he is always busy with that. He actually got to go to the shooting range today with a guy from work. He hasn't been able to do that in a while.  I think he had a good time out there. I wish there were more people out here that enjoyed doing the things he likes to do.

We took Maddie to the pool Saturday. She had so much fun. The pool that we went to has a kiddie side where it is just over a foot. She could walk up and down all by her self. She was just big enough that she could pick up a toy at the bottom and not be all of the way under water. Jeff occasionally took her to the deep end and would throw her up and down. She had so much fun doing that. Overall, it was a pretty good day.

Until next time, have fun and be safe.

Oreo cupcakes- "Death by Oreos"

These things hold true to their name. Oreo cupcakes are delicious. Imagine an oreo on the bottom, chocolate cupcakes with oreo pieces mixed in and a cream cheese frosting with oreo crumbs included. Some of you may think that is too much and some of you may think that sounds delicious! I made these for another BBQ that we went to and they went very vast. Some of my friends went for seconds. They are really easy to make and such a hit. They are not overly sweet, unless you taste them when they are still warm!

Here's the Recipe:

Cook time:	15 Min		Difficulty:	EASY
Prep time:	20 Min		Serves:	24 cupcakes

Ingredients

- 1 pkg oreos, regular size - 1 pkg mini oreos, for decoration - 1 pkg chocolate cake mix/ mix according to directions on box - 8 oz cream cheese, room temperature

- 8 Tbsp butter, room temperature - 3 3/4 c powdered sugar - 1 tsp vanilla extract - cupcake liners

Directions

1.   Preheat oven to 350. Mix packaged cake mix according to directions. (Do not bake.)
2.   Line cupcake tins with liner, place an regular size oreo cookie in the bottom of each one
3.   Take 1/2 of remaining cookies and chop coarsely and add to cake mix. Fill the cupcake tins. Bake for 15 min (or according to box directions). While cupcakes are baking make the frosting.
4.   Cream together butter and cream cheese. Add vanilla, then add powdered sugar slowly until blended well.
5.   Chop remaining regular-sized Oreos very fine. Add to frosting.
6.   After cupcakes are cool put frosting on and decorate with a few mini oreos on top

If you try this recipe, comment and let me know what you think and if you tweaked it a little bit. Enjoy!!

Oreo Ball Recipe

YUMMMY ! These are delicious! I got this recipe from my aunt and they were a big hit! I made them for a BBQ that my family and I attended and everyone there asked for the recipe! These are so good that if you don't pay attention to how many you have eaten you could have eaten half the batch. If you want something easy and delicious and sure to be a hit, this is it. Now, there are a few things that I would that would change to this recipe. The recipe says to let the dough chill for 15 minutes. I would definitely let it chill longer. It needs to be a little harder in order to be able to dip it in the melted chocolate and not break apart. Also, I don't use the white chocolate. I use milk chocolate. An idea that you could do to make it look a little prettier is to dip it in either the white or milk chocolate and drizzle the opposite chocolate over it.  If you try it, comment and let me know what you think and if you did anything different. I appreciate it. 

Cook time:			Difficulty:	EASY
Prep time:	1 Hr		Serves:	24-36

Ingredients

- 1-18oz. pkg oreo cookies (regular size, 3 rows of cookies) - 1-8oz. pkg cream cheese-block

- 4 oz white chocolate almond bark

Directions

1.   Add oreos to food processor and blend until fine.

2.   Add cream cheese to oreo crumbs and blend until dough-like.

3.   Chill mixture for 15 minutes then roll into bite-size balls. Chill balls for 15 minutes.

4.   Melt almond bark in microwave according to package directions. Dip chilled oreo balls in melted chocolate using fork so chocolate can "drip off". Set covered cookie balls onto waxed paper and let set aprox. 30 minutes. If using sprinkles or decorative sugars do so before chocolate sets. I usually do a dozen at a time sprinkling after each dozen

Enjoy

Amish White Bread Recipe

I am always trying new recipes and sometimes people ask me for the recipes, so I decided that I would start sharing the recipes on here. The first one I am posting is a bread recipe that I found yesterday and decided to try yesterday. As you can see from the post name, it's Amish White Bread. 

I have never made bread before and I don't have a bread machine, so I did this by hand and my handy dandy mixer that has a bread hook as an attachment. ( I was excited to see that my mixer had some attachments that I didn't think I would get to use, but did.) 

Jeff really likes homemade bread, so I thought  I would try my hand at it and see where it goes. I bought yeast packets a few months ago and finally had enough time to try something new. I have to say I think I might have found a new obsession. It was pretty fun making it and it is something that Maddie and I could do together. At least parts of it. 

I tried it once it cooled down and it was delicious. As soon as Jeff walked in the door, I told him that he couldn't have any. HEHE! I finally gave him a piece and he asked for more. I will definitely do more and maybe switch it up a bit! 

Here's the recipe. Enjoy! 

Amish White Bread! 

Ingredients

• 2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 2/3 cup white sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons active dry yeast
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 6 cups bread flour

Directions

1. In a large bowl, dissolve the sugar in warm water, and then stir in yeast. Allow to proof until yeast resembles a creamy foam.
2. Mix salt and oil into the yeast. Mix in flour one cup at a time. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Place in a well oiled bowl, and turn dough to coat. Cover with a damp cloth. Allow to rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
3. Punch dough down. Knead for a few minutes, and divide in half. Shape into loaves, and place into two well oiled 9x5 inch loaf pans. Allow to rise for 30 minutes, or until dough has risen 1 inch above pans.
4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 minutes.

Nutritional Information

Amount Per Serving  Calories: 168 | Total Fat: 2.9g | Cholesterol: 0mg Powered by ESHA Nutrient Database

Maddie's Two Year and Family Pictures

This past weekend we went up to Mom's and had a high school friend do our new pictures. She does amazing work and I knew she would capture us perfectly! We set the time to do it in the evening, so that Maddie would be okay and we could hopefully get some good pictures. BOY!! It seemed as if every thing was going against us at the time. Maddie had been in the pool with at least one person throughout the entire day. We got her in, ate dinner, and got ready. We had planned on leaving 45 minutes early because it would have taken 30 minutes to get there. We didn't leave until 25 minutes before, still had to stop at a bank to get the money (my fault. I take full responsibility on not getting it earlier), and right before we actually left Maddie had diarrhea and it ran down since she was in regular panties. Needless to say, she needed a bath. She was getting cranky and I could see where this was going. We stopped at the bank and was out of order. So, we had to stop at an actual store and go buy some gum. Gosh! We get there. I feel horrible by this point for wasting her time. We finally start doing pictures and Maddie's patience runs out. She clings to Jeff the rest of the night. I was so worried that we didn't get any good ones, especially since Maddie wasn't smiling. My friend offered to do some more photos the next morning in town. I agreed very quickly! That night she posted some sneak peeks and I was so relieved that we actually got some pretty cute pictures. :) Whew!! I was so excited and worked up from seeing these amazing pictures that I couldn't sleep. Today, we woke up and got ready and it went a lot smoother than yesterday. Mimi and PopPop came this time and made it a lot better. She posted a few sneak peeks of today's session and all I have to say is that I can not wait a month to see these pictures and finally get to print some out!!! When I get a CD, I will post some on here for you all to see! If you can't wait that long, you can go check my Facebook. She tagged me in them.

This was a pretty good weekend. Maddie got to spend some quality time with Mimi and PopPop and got to swim in the pool with everyone. Probably the two things she loves to do the most! :) This week came too fast. We have a busy week, too! So, I am going to get off and go to bed. I am so tired! It's been a very busy few days.. Until next time, have fun and be safe!!!

Potty training, attitudes, and independence OH MY!!

This week has been very interesting so far. We have decided to try and start Maddie with potty training. I got an email about potty training with working moms. I read the tips and decided that even though I am not a working mom, I would still try the tips out and see if they work for me. Yesterday morning, we got her out of bed, got her out of her diaper, took her to the potty, and put regular panties on her. I was expecting several potty accidents and a few little break downs from her since she freaks out when that happens. I was pleasantly surprised. She did have one accident, but it was because she went to go, but her seat wasn't on the potty and she came back to get me. As soon as she got back to the bathroom, it was just a little too late. Other than that, she did amazing. I was so proud of her. She whined when I put a diaper on her for nap time and was very excited to get it back off. Today, we went to a playgroup date, so she had a diaper on for a few hours. She had no accidents today. We even made a step up in progress today. We used her little potty chair ( which she refuses to use) as a step stool so she can get on her toilet seat by herself.

That is where her independence comes in. She is so determined to do everything herself. As of today, she has to get her bottoms and underwear off, get up on the stool and get onto her seat all by her self. She will slap my hands and yell 'NO'. When did she decide to be so independent already?? Also, she doesn't want help to get her up in her chair for dinner. So sad...

When I say attitudes, I mean attitudes. Maddie and I were out yesterday running some errands and Maddie was asking for a snack. While I was at the commissary, I grabbed her some cheese nips. While I was driving home I asked her if I could have one as I held my hand back. She says to me in a stern voice with a little bit of attitude "Please?!". I laughed so hard. Where were my manners. "Maddie may I please have one?". I asked for another and once again I forgot to mention the please and I once again got the "please?!"  She is so much like me it's unreal.

This weekend we are driving up to mom and dad's house. We are getting our new family photos done and Maddie's two year pictures done, as well. I am very excited. The girl who is the photographer is a friend of mine from high school. Her pictures are amazing and I am beyond excited to see how well they come out. We will get a little pool time in and a bit of Mimi and PopPop time in. It will be really short trip, but well worth it I believe!

I think that is all of the information I have to share for now. Until next time, have fun and be safe!

Maddie's TWO!!!!

Can anyone tell me where the time has gone? Is my baby really two? I can't believe it! It doesn't seem that long ago that I was getting ready to have her and was feeling rushed with feelings and here I find myself almost in the exact same position two years later. Time does really fly by when you're having fun.

Yesterday, we had Maddie's birthday party (the 16th). We wanted my parents to be there to help celebrate, so we chose the day before so They could be here for that. It was a great turn out! Maddie is currently obsessed with Elmo ( or melmo if you ask her). So, it was an obvious choice on what theme we were doing this year. I had gotten little red tin buckets to put the food in, the basic colors for streamers and balloons and a few other colors as well, and a few Elmo balloons just for her! Mom and dad brought their three crock pot set and brought the supplies for a nacho bar! ( Huge success by the way). We had our friends come over and even though the rain decided to show up and ruin the bounce house, the kids still played with the slip and slide. We played Elmo bingo that I made for them and Elmo says. The kids loved getting to play that and I am pretty sure winning a toy didn't hurt either. I made a variety of cupcakes, so everyone got to pick which on they wanted. Maddie had a lot of fun getting to play with everyone and getting lots of new toys. She chowed down on some food and loved the icing I made for the cupcakes. My parents, Jeff, and I all got sesame shirts to help the celebration and Maddie even had an Elmo shirt on. Mom and I wore an Elmo shirt. Dad wore an Oscar the Grouch shirt and Jeff wore Cookie Monster (known as Cookie to Maddie). I have some pictures, but I will have to post them later. Everyone in the house is asleep and the camera cord is in the guest room. Overall, I think everyone had a great time and had a good choice of food to choose from. It definitely looked like a party when you walk into the house which is exactly what I wanted. I had so much fun preparing for this party and being able to create it all. 

It's sad to think that Maddie is already two and that soon she will be starting school and I won't be a cool mom soon!  Why can't they stay small??

Anyway, since I have been off of here for so long, I will give you all an update on what has been going on. We made a trip out to California to see Jeff's side of the family. We stayed for a week and had a lot of fun. Maddie was beyond spoiled there with all of the attention from her cousins, aunts, and uncles. She didn't know what to do at first. We, also, had the chance to go down to San Francisco for a Giant's baseball game. This was the first time I had been there (other than when I was a baby). So, I was rather excited. Maddie stayed with Jeff's family while we made it a day trip. We stopped by the Fisherman's wharf, took a boat tour of the bridge and Alcatraz, and caught a glimpse of a few seals. We walked to the game a little early and watched them practice. It was so much fun to get away and do something fun.

Maddie is doing so well in speech. She is saying so many more words and actually moving her lips and tongue without a problem now. Her therapist informed us that she may not have to go much longer because she is doing so great! It's a happy/sad situation. Maddie enjoys going, but it will sure be nice not to have to wake up so early and go.

Jeff went to Sgt's course for 7 weeks. He left the week before Easter and and returned the second week of June. We met half-way at my parents house and all spent Easter together. It was good for Maddie to see Jeff and all of us get to spend the holiday together. Maddie had a great time looking for eggs and her baskets(one from us and one from Mimi and PopPop). We took almost two weeks and went up and spent some time with my parents and then made a weekend trip up to see Jeff. Maddie was beyond excited to see him. I wasn't allowed to do anything. Jeff had to do it all. She enjoyed being able to get in the pool with Poppop in the evenings and getting into everything else during the day. We even made it to a farm and got to play with some bunnies, goats, and a donkey. I, also, got to go blueberry picking for the first time and picked a large amount of blueberries which didn't last that long with Maddie around.

I will post the pictures sometime soon. Until then, I should try and get some sleep. Until next time, have fun and be safe!

Grandparents weekend

My parents came into town this weekend. It was so much fun! They arrived Friday evening and stayed until Monday after lunch. Saturday, we went to Black water State Park. It was such a beautiful day and couldn't resist enjoying the warm weather. We packed up some sandwiches, fruits, veggies, and chips and headed on our way. The dogs rode along with us. The hike through the park wasn't too long or too sunny. The dogs were worn out and passed out as soon we as got in the cars. Maddie finally passed out like 20 minutes before we got home and slept for a while after we got home. That evening, we went ahead and celebrated my birthday early. We went to Outback. YUM! It has been so long since I have been there. It was a good dinner, beside Madison being cranky and not wanting to eat any food. Thankfully, the waitress we had was really nice and knew what it was like to have kids. She brought Maddie some cherries and oranges. Maddie took some of dad's cherry tomatoes, so we asked the waitress for some more. At least my daughter eats healthy. LOL  Later that night, we tried the cupcakes that we got from Oh Snap! Cupcakes. It was really good. They have a lot of choices and specialized cupcakes, as well.

Sunday, we all kind of did our own thing throughout the day. Dad took Maddie to the park and played for two hours of going down the slide. Mom and I went to Joanns to get fabric for the quilt that I want to make for  Maddie and Jeff did homework. After that, we had some Delicious dinner and played Smarty Pants.

Before my parents left on Monday, Jeff and I went to Lowe's to pick up the soil and such for our garden.  It was a lot easier to get everything that we needed without any distractions. While Maddie was sleeping, Jeff and I got out there and put it together. I can't wait to see if they actually turn out. As we were loading up the truck, a very nice man started a conversation with us and told us some great ways to rid of the bugs that were safe and non toxic. So, if anyone is wanting some good gardening tips... here are some. :)

1. To avoid bugs from eating your lettuce, place baking powder on it and on the soil. The bugs will eat the baking powder and explode. It should only take a few times and then you shouldn't see any more bugs trying to take your precious lettuce.

2. There is a small bug that literally suffocate any stemmed plants, such as tomato and pepper. They will wrap itself at the bottom of the stem while the plants are small and squeeze it until the plant is dead. This is the bug's defense against predators. He said to either put tooth picks around the plants while they are small or some foil. The gentleman said that once the plants are full grown that there is no need to take any precautions. 

3. If any one is growing a garden in Florida, then you know that there is a ridiculous amount of sand and not dirt. The area around here takes a lot of tilling, but can have a garden year round.

4. The last thing he mentioned to us is that rabbit maneuer is the best thing to place into the soil. Chicken maneuer is the second best.

I know I learned a lot from him. He was very helpful. He also told us a few things that are good to know for living in Pensacola. I was glad to know that there are still a few good people out there that want to help others.

Today, I don't know what got in to me, but I woke up in a GREAT mood. Maddie and I made some breakfast and then got ready and went for a 2 1/2 mile walk with her in the stroller. Then we walked over to the park and slid down the slide a few times. I think she was worn out by this point because she was done after four times of sliding down the slide. I ended up having to carry her home. I laid her down and accomplished quite a few things around the house. I made her lunch and then we went on another walk, but this time with a friend and her little boy.  Maddie and I did a few more things around the house and she went down for another nap. I guess I kept wearing her out. Overall, today was a pretty good day.  A VERY productive day at that.

Maddie is starting to go potty on the big girl potty. For three days straight, she has gone on the big girl potty in the mornings and sometimes once in the afternoon. Hopefully this continues and goes smoothly. We all made a pretty big deal about it and it seems to be like 'Great mom, I went. Can I go play now?' to her. She doesn't seem to be too excited about it.

This weekend was a lot of fun. It is always nice to spend time with family. Maddie was absolutely loving her time with Gamma and Papa.

I have some pictures that I'll post, but they aren't uploaded just yet. Once I get them uploaded, I'll edit the blog. Until next time, have fun and be safe.

What Day is it?

This week has gone by so quickly. I had meant to post a blog talking about this past weekend and then another post (like tonight) about the week. Well, that obviously didn't work out. LOL The weekend was so nice. It was a family weekend. Jeff did homework and I caught up on some things. We played some Wii, and played with Maddie. Sunday was the Superbowl. We had some friends over and it was a lot of fun. It was definitely had a lot of people over and we didn't even have the whole crew over. The kids had a blast. They utilized every single toy that they could find. By the end of the night, it was hard to see the floor. The night overall was a success. We had a ton of food left over, so I sent food with them. I love to have people over and plan for these things. It was so much fun. 

This week went rather quick. It's all kind of a blur really. I know we went and ran a few errands and on Wednesday I met up with a friend for lunch and a playdate with the dogs. She asked me to watch her dog while she's gone for the weekend. I told her that we needed to make sure the dogs get along first. That turned out to be a really good idea. When she first came over, Katy went right into guard dog. There was no way Katy was going to let the dog come through in any further than she already was. We sat down and tried to get the dogs (really just Katy) to calm down and see if the two dogs could get along. I was starting to worry that this wasn't going to work out as I had hoped. I put Katy outside, so I could figure something out. She didn't like that I did that to her at all!!! I finally had the idea to see if we could get the dogs outside and play with eachother. IT WORKED!! Katy went from guard dog to play dog! WHEWWW! The husbands came to the dogs playing great with eachother!  Jeff thinks it's because I put Katy outside and left the other one inside. I don't care how we got them to play and get along. Haha! So, this weekend we will have another dog to add to our family. :)

Katy's birthday was on Tuesday. She turned 3! I made her a little puppy cake. She liked it-as usual. The day before, we got the package of Dingo bones. It was perfect timing.

Wednesday, I had lunch with a friend that I previously mentioned.

Today, I sat around the house. I haven't slept much the past two days and was ridiculously tired. That meant that the errands I had hoped to run today didn't happen. That just means that tomorrow I DEFINITELY have to get out and go get blood work done.

Oh, I tried the embossing tools that I mentioned in a previous blog. Unfortunately for me, you have to have a special ink for it to work. I didn't realize that and just stocked up on cool colors. Oh well! I guess another trip to Joann's is in my near future. :) DARN!

Well, that is my update for now! Have a good weekend everyone! Until next time, have fun and be safe!

Cribs and Knees

Maddie has been a pro at getting stuck in her crib. How, you ask? Well, Maddie likes to fit her legs through the spaces and let her feet hang off. This would be fine with me if she didn't try to get her entire leg in the space and escape. I don't know what she is thinking really.

This morning, I found her with one leg stuck. It's not an usual scene anymore when I go and get her out of the crib. Unfortunately, Jeff is normally around when she really gets her leg stuck and wasn't present this time. I attempted to get her knee free, but she screamed and cried every time I tried. I tried several times, but no success. I didn't know what to do, so I called Jeff at work and asked if he could come rescue her. I was tempted to cutting a piece of the crib off it not. LOL Luckily, we live two minutes from work and he was able to come home and play Super Daddy. He got her free so quickly. I will admit that I was jealous and pretty lame for not being able to do it. Maddie didn't even wince when he did it. I guess I am not a pro like daddy.

One time, Maddie was laying down for a nap (which she didn't do... she played the entire time in her crib). We went to get her out of bed and I couldn't even believe what I saw. She was on her tummy with both of her legs hanging out of the crib. From her thighs down was sticking straight out. HOW!!! It looked as if she had a brilliant idea of getting out of her crib. LOL This girl.! I don't even know what to do with her. I am just hoping she doesn't do it anymore, or at least while Daddy's not home.

I am going to have to figure something out so that she doesn't do it anymore. Does anyone have any smart ideas that I can try? Ideas are appreciated.

Well, until next time, have fun and be safe.

Crafting = LOVE

I attempted to write this blog before and it wiped out on me! So, here it goes again.

Any one who knows me knows that I absolutely love crafts.! I will do any sort of craft. I like scrapbooking, sewing, making cards, random crafts for holidays and such, everything.. LOVE crafts!

I figured that I would start sharing the crafts that I made. Some of the crafts that I made are some burp clothes and a baby blanket for a friend's baby boy. They turned out really cute. I have a picture of a burp cloth on my phone that I will download later.

Lately, I have felt as if I have lost my creativeness lately and desperately wanted it back. I had to do something that was easy and could possibly bring the creativeness come back to me! I had some extra material, so I made a blanket for Maddie. Well, it's a little big for her right now, but she will eventually be able to use it. I love it! It's so pretty. I wish I had enough material to make for me. We really don't need any more blankets in this house though. We have enough for everyone on the block.

I have been trying to get more into card making. I think that it is more meaningful if you hand make someone a gift or a card. It is more valuable than spending money on a gift. I have seen cute ideas, but nothing that really caught my eye. I went to a few different blogs that had cards on their sites. They each had an etsy shop to go along. I thought I would look through and see what these cards are going for. I found a few cards that were cute and I could easily do. They wanted a lot of money for a card that I could very easily make and spend like an 1/4 of the price. Who knew! I should really get into this business ! I tell ya!


I wanted to make a shirt for the big sister of the little baby boy that was just born. I have never made one before and didn't think it could be that hard. MMM! I was kind of wrong. I learned a lot though. It didn't turn out as good as I was hoping for. Note to self: Pay attention and think about what I am actually doing.


The last thing I would like to share my newest tool which I plan to try out right after this blog is over. :) I am now a proud owner of an embossing tool and the powder! I am beyond excited about this thing. Embossed cards look so pretty and it has such an elegant, yet simple look to it. Wish me luck!!!

Well with that being said, I am going to get off and try it now.