Thursday, March 25, 2010

Wanna Come?

Hey ya'll! I'm moving and would like to invite you all to join me! Spencer has been hard at work on a new website where we can blog together (or you can just read mine.....or his....whichever you want :-) You can find me HERE All my previous blog posts will show up as well as some fun new links and such. If you are already a follower it will automatically re-direct you but if you aren't I hope you will come along as well! It should be fun!

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Playing Catch Up!

Wow! We have had a busy, but very fun weekend and week so far! We started our weekend with a garage sale on Saturday morning.

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I was so skeptical because a) I attempted a garage sale last September and it failed miserably b) I attempted a garage sale last September and it failed miserably! But I am glad to say that it went very well! We didn't even get to take pictures the day of because we were so busy! Three other families participated with me and I think that helped a lot, we had a little bit of everything. I did get to experience a few customers that were quite the deal makers, but in the end I think everyone was successful! It was so nice to get rid of some things we don't need, make some room in our closets and make some money!

Saturday afternoon my grandparents arrived for a visit! They live in Ohio but are here to visit for the week. The boys have had so much fun with their MawMaw and PawPaw! My grandma's birthday was last Thursday so Sunday night I decided to make a cake for her and Andrew to share on his birthday.

I decided to try a recipe for a fondant cake because that is what I want to make for the boys' birthday party and I have never made one before. I used THIS recipe and I think it turned out great! It was easy, cheap and fun! I have a long way to go with my fondant skills, but overall I was pretty happy with how it turned out.

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Monday morning we had a special birthday breakfast for Andrew.

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He liked it so much he needed seconds when MawMaw and PawPaw arrived.

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Monday night we went to dinner and then came home for presents and cake!

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Andrew has yet to master the skill of blowing out his candles! haha

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We have still been busily working on the house and in the yard. My grandparents are wonderful gardeners and I am so glad they have been here to help me! I can't wait to share pictures when we are all done!

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Monday, March 22, 2010

Happy Birthday, Andrew!

Dear Andrew,
Today we celebrate your two years of life! I am so very thankful for you. You are my sweet, funny, smart, happy little boy and your Daddy and I love you so very much. It has been exciting to see you grow, change and learn new things and I can already see that you have the heart of a servant. You would rather help Mommy in the kitchen or in the yard over playing with toys any day! I am excited to see how the Lord uses you!

I pray that you will love the Lord and trust in Him to be your everything. I pray that He would help me be a better mommy to you and not just tell you to love Jesus, but to show you through the way I live my life.

You are the best big brother Joshua could have! You just love on him and play with him and he loves to laugh at you! There are so many people that just love you to pieces, you are a blessing to many!

Happy Birthday Andrew Spencer, I love you sooooo much! XOXOXOXOXO

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I wrote about Andrew's actual birthday HERE!

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Two Recipes and a Picky Eater

Last week we had a party to go to and I was supposed to bring a "casserole." I made Delmonico Potatoes just like my Mom used to make them, they are one of my favorite things!

You will need:

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8-9 baking potatoes (a few less if they are HUGE like the ones I used, I think I only used 5)
8 oz shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 pint whipping cream
1 C milk
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp dry mustard
paprika
butter

Boil potatoes with skins on until done (the skins will start falling off when they are nice and done.)

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Peel and let cool.

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Shred them into a buttered 9x13 dish. (I am sure that a bag of hashbrowns would work the same and would allow you to skip over these first three steps!)

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Heat the cheddar, whipping cream, milk, salt and dry mustard on the stove until smooth.

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Pour cheese mixture over the potatoes. Sprinkle with paprika and dot with butter.

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The recipe says to refrigerate overnight and remove one hour before baking, but I always skip that step and they seem to turn out fine! Bake at 325 for 1 hour uncovered.

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This next "recipe" can't really be considered a full-fleged recipe. It's only two ingredients that make for a very tasty lunch.
All you need is this

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and some of this

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Lunch is served! It's a very sweet dressing and it really can be eaten on a salad all by itself! (If you want to get a little fancier with it I would suggest adding strawberries and pecans too!)

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Now, about my picky eater. I take full responsibility for allowing this little munchkin to become quite the picky eater.

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When he started eating baby food if he wrinkled his nose and turned away I just moved on to something he did like because I didn't feel up to a fight. (I was lazy! I admit it!) Well a few weeks ago I realized what a limited diet he had and knew it was time to make some changes. Also, he is almost a year old and I am ready to be done feeding baby food! So after a few miserable feeding times that could be titled, "Mommy vs. J-Man - Battle of the Wills" I am glad to say that he is becoming quite the self-fed-variety-eating baby!

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We still have a ways to go before I can say "He will eat anything I put in front of him," but we are getting there!

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I have it admit that it was worth the struggle for a couple days to now have a happy, eating baby! Now we just have to work on being a "tidy eater!" Haha!

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Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Monday, March 15, 2010

Busy Weekend Ya'll!

We had a wonderful, fun, lots-of-work-involved weekend. Friday night we had DATE NIGHT thanks to Spencer's grandparents for keeping our boys! We actually ended up having a double date with some friends at a little restaurant out on the island.

Saturday started with "panpakes" and bacon, as Andrew calls it! Spencer loves cooking on Saturday morning and Andrew is his #1 helper. Then we started another mini-home improvement job. (More on that later!)

Saturday night we were invited to go with Spencer's parents to a fundraiser for the school/daycare that is at our church. The theme was "hoe down." There was BBQ chicken, line dancing and a silent auction. I was excited to have a reason to dust off my cowboy boots!

I wanted to snap a picture before we left....Joshua did not!

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I took Andrew out to learn how to line dance and he did pretty well! He was the cutest line dancer out there!

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Joshua enjoyed some chocolate cake and then it was his turn to dance with Mommy!

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Andrew wanted back in on the dancing and things got interesting! haha

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I told Andrew that real cowboys chew on hay....

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...and wear cowboy hats :-)

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Daddy with the littlest cowboy!

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Joshua is cutting teeth, can you tell!?!

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Hope you had a wonderful weekend too!

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

A Closet Remodel

Two weeks ago I got the itch. The itch to organize and clean out our closet. It started with pulling some old stuff out and ended with me removing the shelving, busting out the white paint and asking Spencer to price some new shelves. When we were first married I thought it would be cute to paint our closet half pink, half blue. His side, her side. When I was in Ohio for a long weekend Spencer surprised me by painting it. I enjoyed it for a few years but decided it was time to get our closet looking more uniform, organized and make the best use of the space we have. Here are a few pictures from our recent closet make-over.

Before, pink and blue, only one rack on each side with a lot of wasted space.
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It's amazing how much stuff you keep in a closet! Our house looked like a bomb went off for a few days till we got it all put back.
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After a fresh coat (or 3) of white paint and some new racks. It's amazing how much more organized our closet looks! (This was before all the stuff was put back of course!) I'm sure my clothes and shoes appreciate the breathing room :-)
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