Happy Friday, friends! I am so incredibly happy to be posting this Five on Friday as it is the long awaited four day weekend, before the long awaited last week of school. Tunnel, light. One.
Zoey conned me into walking over to our neighborhood park last weekend...little did we know there would be not one, but TWO bounce houses, firefighters, a fire TRUCK, police officers, hot dogs, AND cookies!! Best day ever for this toddler. Two.
We also visited the scene of Zoey's birthday party and clearly I have the smartest husband ever. Convince the toddler it'll be fun to push daddy...check. Three.
Lukie was a good sport at the park; he is such a little champ. Look at all that unassisted sitting he's doing! He's so close. Four.
Honi's Coffee came to our school yesterday and made iced coffees in the morning and shakes at lunch time. Our front office is amazing and knows just what we need to survive. Five.
Zoey's THIRD birthday is Saturday and we are celebrating her all weekend!! Today, I'm keeping her home from school and we're going to have some mommy-daughter fun and she's getting her first haircut! Then, it's party time at Mickey Park with all of her friends. It's going to be a full weekend - I just hope it doesn't go too fast. Have an amazing weekend! Linking up.
I have been back to work for a whole 8 days and I'm probably the most excited about this FOUR day weekend! It feels like Saturday to me and wrong to be typing up my Five on FRIDAY this morning. Chris even gets the day off so it's a huge super bonus to have an extra day with him! Life. is. good. ONE. We attended the annual Journey of Hope Breakfast with the Easter Bunny. It is by far my most favorite charity event we do all year. The breakfast is amazing and Zoey has a blast playing the games, visiting the musical petting zoo, and participating in the Easter egg hunt. The only downside to this year's event was the Frozen bike up for raffle...we walked away with a very teary toddler and a birthday wish to fulfill. Overall it was a super fun morning though!
TWO.
Now that our siding is freshly painted, we've been fixing up our backyard patio. Chris got rid of my shredded (cat) outdoor rug and replaced it with some awesome wood tiles from IKEA. These two have really been enjoying the extra outside time since the weather has been so beautiful. THREE.
We had an impromptu date night last weekend. We planned to go see a movie, but it just didn't work out so we settled for dinner at Grub Burger Bar. We are SO glad we missed the movie - both of us had forgotten how nice a dinner without kids could be. FOUR.
I noticed one of my favorite bracelets had fallen off when I got to school and upon further investigation, I found it was broken. Normally I'd be devastated, but lucky for me, it's Chloe and Isabel. So I hopped on my phone, submitted a picture of the damage, and they shipped me a new one, free of cost! I'll have to do a post about my obsession soon (not paid or compensated for saying these things, just obsessed with beautiful jewelry). FIVE.
We are looking forward to a beautiful weekend outside, Easter baskets, time with family, my girls' night and LuLaRoe pop-up, and a mommy and Zoey day of fun on Monday. Enjoy this beautiful weekend! Linking up!
2013 started with a low note - We lost Chris's grandpa unexpectedly and traveled to Oklahoma to be with family. We also found out I was pregnant in the spring but it ended in a heartbreaking miscarriage (is there any other kind?) at 6 weeks. At this point I was pretty much done with 2013, but in looking back on the year this morning, I realized how truly amazing the year was and how incredibly blessed we've been this year.
Out of the loss of Chris's grandpa and the pregnancy, came a renewed sense to seize the day, get stuff done and appreciate every moment with our loved ones.
February - I threw a surprise baby shower in a box for my sister. It was so hard not being able to shower her with love in person but we had fun doing it from afar!
March - We celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary and seriously, every year gets better with this amazing guy! Our nephew was born and we celebrated A LOT of family and friend birthdays.
April - I helped to prepare for an amazing friend's baby shower and passed several teacher certification exams. I was also offered a teaching position at my current school.
May - Through the struggle of a miscarriage we still had a fun visit to New Orleans to meet our newest nephew and I passed my Special Education certification exam!
June-July - We channeled our frustration and sadness from the miscarriage and went gangbusters on painting and decorating our house. We made a lot of changes and it looks AMAZING! I also started blogging!
August - I got ready to begin my first year as a teacher and decorated my classroom. We also enjoyed several family members visiting.
September - We celebrated Chris's 30th birthday and he survived! :) We also celebrated my birthday AND found out I was PREGNANT!!
October - We had our first sonogram and found everything was going smoothly. We, of course, were on pins and needles after this spring.
November - We decorated for Christmas early, had our second dr appt and announced to our family!!
December - We announced to our friends, I completed my first semester of teaching, Chris got some time off and we started some new Christmas traditions of our own.
Every year has ups and downs but despite our rocky start, 2013 has gone down as a great year in our books. Here's to a 2014 filled with more ups and than downs and a resolution to live in the moment and make every moment count!
College Football is upon us and in our circle of friends that means OU watch parties!
My current go to for pot luck watch parties is queso (& cupcakes). A coworker shared this recipe with me last year and it's been a big hit! I've adapted it just a little bit and in honor of the return of our old friend college football, I'm sharing it with you today.
Gameday Queso
1 (32 oz) box Velveeta Queso Blaco
1 Can Fat Free Evaporated Milk
3-5 Jalapeños
1-2 habaneros
1 medium sized White Onion
Chop peppers and onion. The amount of peppers you use depends on your tolerance for spicy things. Ours is medium to hot spicy with 5 jalapeños and 2 habaneros.
Add peppers and onions to sauce pan and cover with water. Simmer until peppers and onions are soft.
Drain excess water and blend until smooth.
Melt Velveeta and Evaporated Milk in microwave. Add pepper and onion mixture, stir, and enjoy!
For the Crockpot: prepare peppers and onions, blend, and add to Velveeta and Evaporated milk. Heat on low until melted.
Chris LOVES cookie cake. He had a cookie cake as his groom's cake at our wedding - with a penguin and OU logo, of course.
J Hodges Photography
I love baking and I'm pretty good at it but cookie cake is not one that I'm familiar with, nor do I really know how to make one from scratch. Last year I made a so, so version for his birthday, but this year, for his 30th, I gave it my best effort and boy was it delicious! I had several guinea pigs from Chris' party tell me it was good so I'm going to confidently share my recipe with you.
This was truly an accident that it turned out well as I really just combined a bunch of recipes to try and make it work for my needs.
The number one thing you need to know and believe in is your chocolate - use good quality chocolate in your baking and its bound to come out tasting great. Anyways, on with the good stuff.
Dark Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake
Serves: 12 people
Ingredients:
2 sticks - Unsalted Butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
Lots of Sprinkles
1.5 - 10 oz bags of dark chocolate chips (the really good dark chocolate)
1/2 Can of Icing Directions: Preheat oven to 350F. 1. Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugars together until fluffy and light. 2. In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking soda, and salt together. 3. Add eggs, one at a time, to sugar mixture. Mix well. 4. Add vanilla to sugar mixture. Mix well. 5. Gradually add flour mixture to sugar mixture. Mix well until dough is formed. 6. Toss in a ton of sprinkles (because it makes the cake festive) and your chocolate chips. Stir until evenly distributed in dough. 7. Spread dough evenly into a parchment paper lined 12" round pizza pan (like this one) and bake for 20 minutes or until the edges start to brown. Remove from oven and let cool in pan for 15-20 minutes, then remove from pan and allow to cool completely before icing. How does the cookie get done in the middle? It finishes cooking while its cooling in the pan - so don't panic if the middle of your cookie is still a bit gooey on the inside after taking it out of the oven. Ice your cookie and Enjoy!
**I have not mastered the art of making my cookies perfectly round nor am I an icing artist...and that's okay. I'm all about my food looking edible and tasting delicious.
As summer comes to a close and a new school year begins, it's time to start looking forward to the holidays! With Fall comes cooler temperatures, football, and the beginning of the holiday season.
Here are a few holiday inspirations to bring some cheer to your Thursday.
Make Your Island Festive for a Football Watch Party
I am a mom, a wife, a teacher, a huge OU Sooners fan, cupcake fanatic, DIYer, and an introvert. This blog use to follow our DIY house projects but now it's just a place for me to share bits and pieces of my life and connect with people like you!
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