Recipes to Try

Foodgawker is my new OBSESSION! I love this site! It's ingenious I tell you! They gather recipes from all over the internet in one place and you can even add your favorites to your own Favorites page. Here's a few recipes on my "must try" list:

Bacon Guacamole Grilled Cheese
Guinness and Cheddar Dip
Caprese Grilled Cheese with Balsamic Mayo
Red Velvet Gooey Butter Cookies
Salmon Quino and Zucchini
Tequila Infused Queso
Buffalo Chicken Bites
Egg Drop

Ella Grace, 19 months

Little Miss Ella- I can't believe your 19 months old. In 5 short months you will be two and not a baby anymore. You are quite the character these days. You are strong willed and fearless. You mimic Jack, give the sweetest kisses and hugs and you are in love with your daddy. Your little face lights up and the biggest smile comes across your face when you see him. You love to play outside and the slides at our local park are your favorite! You love cheese, frozen waffles and pretzels. Unofficially you are about 33 inches log and weight 22 pounds. I love you baby girl!

Today is also your Poppy's birthday! He's 800 miles away, but we wish him a very Happy Birthday and wish we could enjoy cupcakes with him. Hopefully we will get to Colorado soon! 

Project 52, Week 4

Being a Mom

It's hard work....stay-at-home or work outside the home, whatever your choice. Becoming a mother profoundly changes a woman. In an instant we are forever changed. Faced with rasing a baby, who God willing will become a responsible, caring, loving and productive member of society one day is scary. What maybe even scarier is learning about the woman we've just become. I've been sent quite a few articles about the 'hood- motherhood that is and thought the perspectives shared were worth sharing with you.

To the Mother with Only One Child

Don't Carpe Diem

Friendly Fire

Project 52, Week 3

What I'm loving right now

Just few things from TV to stuff for the kids that I'm loving right now.

Darby's Honey BeeTees. I just love their simple designs and practicality.

See Jane Work. From technology gadgets to totes, there is some great stuff on this site. A must see if you are shopping for that "hard to buy for" person.

I am obsessed with Subway Art. I just love what people put together and find these little words and phrases inspiring.

Chopped. I've found great passion for cooking over the past few years and this competition is just awesome and humbling- I don't know half of the ingredients contestants are given sometimes.

ABC's Once Upon a Time. Take what you think you know about Fairytales and toss it out the window. This show often depicts what happens after the prince and princess live happily ever after in the Disney versions of these movies.

Ever hear a song playing in the background of a TV show you watch and you fall in love with it? Tune Find lets you search TV shows by episode and hooks you right to iTunes. GENIUS!

Playroom Design. I have a "play room" for our kids and it needs some major work. I've fallen in love with so many designs, but need to find a way to do it on a budget.

This photo app- iPhone users it's a must have!

White

Since I've been playing around with my new photo editing software, I took a leap and entered The Paper Mama's Photo Challenge this week. I used this sweet picture of E to capture "White".

Project 52: Week 2

Project 52: Week 1

2012 Project 52: J and E

I can't believe I'm doing this, but I am going to commit to a project this year for the blog. It's more to chronicle J and E in pictures and play with some of my new photo apps and lens. Each week I'm going to post one picture of each that describes part of their personality. Since it's already the 11th, I'm going to have two pictures for Friday the 13th.

Did Someone say Clearance?

I can NOT pass up a good deal, and by good deal I mean STEAL. I snagged both of these from Target today. All of their holiday stuff went 90% off on Thursday and I thought for sure it would all be gone or only the junk would be left. Turns out there were still a few goodies left in the pile. I have no idea where they will go or if they will appear in a basket of goodies as a gift, but either way they were way worth the $1.39 I spent. 

On Sale for $0.40

On sale for $0.99

Loss of Loved Ones

While a new year brings about new beginnings for some, for others it turns out to be the end of their time here with us on earth. Our family lost two loved ones this week.

Jon's Uncle Tommy passed away on New Years Day. He was his mother's brother and while I only had the fortune of meeting him twice, I know my mother-in-law and the rest of his family is hurting now as they grieve for him.

Rich Dombrowski, a dear family friend, lost his long battle with cancer on January 2nd. Rich was a wonderful man and friend to our family. His family joined ours at many events and his daughter was best friends with my cousin. Her untimely death was hard on us all, but in a strange way while we grieve the loss of Rich, we are comforted to know he has joined his daugher Amanda Jane in heaven.

2011 Recap

What a year- a year of travel, growth and love.
January: Time to celebrate the New Year. Ella is 6 months old and thriving and Jack is learning his letters and counting higher and higher every day.
February: Katie turns 32 and is learning to spread her culinary wings. Cooking is creating and nothing feeds the soul more.
March: Jon turns 35. Ella gets her first tooth and Jack is learning to ride his bike.
April: We celebrated the Easter holiday with Jon’s family. We attended an Easter egg hunt at St. Andrew’s and pulled off a great surprise party for my mother-in-law. She was soooo surprised.
May: Party planning is in full-force for Ella’s 1st birthday. We celebrated Mother’s Day with a lovely breakfast and trip to North Park where I was spoiled with a new pair of Tory Burch shoes. We also took a trip out to Possum Kingdom lake for a little getaway weekend with Jen and Cody.
June: We celebrated Father's Day with a great breakfast with my dad. Ella Grace is 1- what? Can it be? Time really seems to go buy faster with the second baby. Grammie, Poppy, Uncle Josh, Papa Joe, Lala, Mimi, Aunt Virg and some extended family came in to celebrate our little girl. Jon and I celebrate 6 years of marriage (16 years together (that’s ½ my life!)).
July: Aunt Kim and UB came into town to visit for a few days and we bid adieu to Harry Potter with the 8th and final movie this month (tears).
August: Record heat has really put a damper on this summer. We had 41 days over 100 degrees. We took an amazing trip to Denver to visit Jon’s family. We rarely get to enjoy summer there and this year was a real treat. Jack caught his first fish, we went up to Breckenridge and rode the Alpine Slides and even saw a few patches of snow at the Continental Divide.
September: With September came a great vacation to Florida. Amy and Zoe joined us and we got to spend a week in the sun. It was Ella’s first time in the Gulf and we got to see some old friends. Fun, sun and beach…it doesn’t get much better.
October: Jack Ryan turned 4! He’s growing into the cutest little man EVER! Jon’s family, Papa, Lala and some friends helped us celebrate at The Little Gym. He had a great time at his Avenger’s themed party.
November: Jon worked Thanksgiving, so we celebrated the day after with a lovely meal. Charlie the Elf on the Shelf came into our home to keep an eye on Jack for Santa.
December: We celebrated Mimi’s birthday and decorated lots of cookies! Christmas was so much fun this year. Mimi came to visit and the kids got to hang out with her and Papa Joe for the day. They were completely overwhelmed by the gifts, but enjoyed every moment of the day.

Ringing in the New Year

To ring in the new year, we joined Jon's brother Rick, sister-in-law Jess and niece, Addison in Houston for a weekend of family fun. The kids had a great time playing together. Sadly, there's only a few shots of us at midnight. We enjoyed a bottle of Krug this year and brought the new year in right with a smooch.