Better late than never

I haven't updated my blog in a long time now.  Over a month, maybe two.

Not because I have nothing to say, but just no time to say it.
This feels like it has been one of the best Summers of my life.  Busy, and certainly stressful, but ever present is a feeling of happiness.  New experiences just keep popping up, and I am excited to see what happens next!

Anyways, so... since I last wrote.

We went to Tennessee for a family reunion/family wedding.  We stayed in a cabin located up in the mountains.  I am so glad I wasn't driving.  The roads were scary up there!  It was a lot of fun though.  The wedding was gorgeous!  The food delicious, the music (karaoke) a lot of fun :)  Then Joshua decided he wanted me to have a night out, so I ventured off to a bar with the wedding party and guests, while he went back to the cabin with our exhausted little girl.  I would have to say my top 3 memories of the trip will be 1. the wedding, 2. seeing a mother black bear and her two cubs only a glass pane away, and 3. white water rafting.  My first brand new experience of Spring/Summer 2013.

It was amazing!  The adrenaline, the nice cool water, the way you move... It was just amazing.  I am in awe of how much fun I had.  It is the type of thing that I would do every week if I could.

We came home at the beginning of June.  Just in time for Joshua's birthday!  I decided to throw an impromptu Game of Thrones themed birthday party for him during the season finale.  Complete with Game of thrones menu.  He was surprised, and it was a nice little party!  :)

menu ^^^

After that was my birthday.  I hit the big 25!  Why is this big?  Because a standard pack of candles comes with 24, and I officially would need 2 packs now!  The day before my birthday, we had planned to go to Joshua's brothers house for dinner.  When we got there, it was my turn to be surprised.  They had thrown a party for me.  My very first surprise party ever :) Complete with my favorite type of cake, which I never have (pineapple upside down cake).  Plus turkey tacos were on the dinner menu (YUM!) and you know it's a good night when there are turkey tacos around.  Just saying it is fun, I think I have said that before.  They were unable to make it to Joshua's GoT's party, so they got him a fruit tart so we could celebrate his birthday also :)  Such nice people!  Here are some pictures from the party.  All of them were taken by Preston, Joshua's incredibly talented brother.  To see more of his work, go here, and check out his portfolio as well as his blog.  

The "goofy" group picture

 He was blowing out his candles, and blew out mine too.

You can see in my body language the wtf thoughts I was sending him haha.  

You can see from his, that he thinks it is funny.

Happy birthday to us!

Then came fathers day.  Joshua got a book from his eldest daughter, and a homemade card with handprints from his youngest.  In celebration of both of our birthdays, and fathers day, we also got new phones!  My first phone since 2010.  It is a new experience for me, but I am trying to get into it.  He loves his.  He has been waiting a long time to get it. 

He also got me a new video game :) by Naughty Dog, which is also responsible for the Uncharted series.  One of my personal favorites!

We actually just finished the game today.  It was great!

I started watching a little girl who lives across the street from us.  She is indeed a new experience.  I'll call her K.  K is very sweet, and intelligent.  She is the same age as our little girl, and they are very similar in a lot of ways.  I find having her over to be beneficial the majority of the time.  Both girls tire each other out, and they play well together.  Some days K doesn't adjust well to her parents leaving, and she spends the day in misery :( but we are trying to find new activities and places to go so that we can keep her spirits up.  With the money I am making from this job I have been able to pay off some debt, and now repaint our living room.  I have the paint, I am just waiting for the day.  I will miss my purple walls, but look forward to the new fresh blue!

The next holiday up was the 4th of July.  We went to a friends bbq, and had a lot of fun.  I offered to bring a dessert, and was asked to bring many.  I found this truly great! I love creating things, and others enjoying them is just more icing on the cake (get it?) We were unable to stay for fireworks, but maybe next year.  

^^^(photo provided by Preston Tewell)

Finally, on the list of events to catch up on, we have Brett's birthday party.  Guess what, it was a surprise one!  This family is just into surprise parties this year.  :) I love it!  We all went and played whirlyball.  If you have not done this before, you need to!  I have so many bruises, and I am very sore, but I can't wait to do it again!  It will be something I have to save money on the side for, but worth it.  10 people in little bumper cars with a little racket scoop thing, trying to throw balls at a little round hoop (quidditch meets lacrosse meets bumpercars?)  I really want to go again :( That was another new and exciting experience.

Other than these bigger adventures, I have just been busy with little ones.  I am trying to spend more one on one time with my daughter, since I have K during the week and the time is split.  I got a new WoW subscription from my brother for my birthday, so I have gotten some time in there as well.  I hit the jackpot this summer at garage sales and was able to get many books that I was collecting, as well as a SNES and a couple games. 

One other big/small time consuming item... parties!  Since around April, I have been planning a baby shower (that is in less than 3 weeks now), and my daughters Seuss birthday bash that is in September.  I think I am going to try to break into event planning.  I really enjoy it, and love coming up with themes, decorations, and menus.  I do it for free already, so why not try to get paid for it?  I make a lot of it myself as well, which could appeal to a market of women who love up-cycling and recycling.  I guess I will see... 

Well this took about an hour of my time, and I am starving.  So time to go make dinner!  

I have to say, I love that even though I haven't written, I still find 40-50 daily page views on average.  Thank you for checking out my blog!  

Getting things done, with M&M Bars :)

Yesterday was a day of work.  Normally Sundays are our family days, but we kind of had a family weekend this week.  For the first time in a little while, we didn't have any events to go to, or host.  We didn't have to run out to do things.  The weather wasn't nice enough to go on a trip to the zoo or beach.  We just relaxed.  We watched a couple movies, played video games, chased our daughter around, read stories together, etc.  :) We were going to finger paint, but honestly, I was exhausted!

For the first time in a few weeks, my kitchen is clean!  All of the dishes are done, the floor was mopped recently (thought to be honest, I guess it could be mopped again), and there isn't an overwhelming amount of tupperware in the fridge! (<--- this is important because there comes a time where I just want to leave whatever it is in there so I don't have to wash it)

Exactly

This weekend will probably be our last real chill weekend for a little while, so I don't know what got into me to go on a cleaning spree.  Whatever it was, happy home-maker was in overdrive yesterday.  I should have worn my pearls to complete the image.

I ended my evening making these M&M bars for the employees Joshua supervises.  He has been wanting to bring them in some sort of baked good for a while, and I finally had something to give him :)

I tried this recipe once before, a little over a week ago, but I messed it up :( 

Not one to let a delicious looking recipe beat me, I had to try again.  I mean look at these!
She makes them look so delicious! 

 

I got this picture from her blog, so you could see why I had to try again.  

You should totally check the blog out!
Fearless Homemaker

I normally like to make some changes to a recipe, to make it more of my own style or taste, but since this was a redo from a flop, I followed it as closely as I could.

(I found I was out of butter and had to use Imperial sticks, sad face)

So here are our M&M Bars from the Fearless Homemaker, and the steps I took to make it.  

First off, for any baking experience to be made easier, I recommend getting everything out ahead of time.  I don't always do this, but it truly is easier to do.  Plus you can put stuff away after you use it!

The big tub is where I keep my baking soda.  :) 

The flour, salt, and baking soda were whisked together in a medium bowl

Next came the brown sugar, and white sugar in a separate bowl

Adding the "butter" to the sugar, and creaming it until nice and fluffy

One egg, and one egg yolk

This is going to sound very weird, but I always love separating egg yolks :)
I know the egg shell trick, and they actually have devices to do this too...

...but I think it is easiest to just pour it into my hand and let the egg whites slide off. 

Yep, I'm a weirdo.

So one of the many great things about my fella is that he doesn't mind helping me out :)

He read me all the instructions so I wouldn't have to go back and forth to my computer

I was skeptical at this part, and asked him repeatedly to make sure I was doing it right.

The instructions say to add the flour mixture to the wet mixture until just combined

I am not one to dump flour into a mix, I prefer to mix it in increments until blended

But since I messed up the last one, I decided to go ahead and trust this woman and do it her way :) 

*dump!*

Resisting the urge to just eat this, like this!

When you're baking late at night, you have to entertain yourself a little

Okay, that is a lie, I would do things like this whether it was 12am or 12pm

You will just have to excuse my toilet humor :)

Ready to go into the oven!

Finished!!!

Now unfortunately, this was done around midnight, so I was unable to "wait until they are cool" to try one.  My fault completely.  As a friend has told me, "Only you would bake at midnight."  But I did wait just long enough to where I could cut a piece and try it without burning my sensitive mouth skin.  

I shared it with Joshua, and we both thought it was pretty good.  Well I thought it was delicious, and just needed some milk to drink with it (and I am NOT a milk person, unless it is something decadent like this!)  Joshua didn't think it was amazing by any means, but he thought it was good.  He would eat it again, and if we had any left (he took them to work) he would probably happily finish them off.  I don't think that these are something that will make him say "please go make these right now!"  But I liked them a lot :) 

Now that I have made them successfully, the next step is to put my own flare into it.  Maybe some almond extract, pretzel pieces, and chocolate chips are in the future... :) Possibly all together, then again maybe separate.  Ooooo maybe frosting!  A peanut butter frosting!

Anyway, this is the recipe! 

Preheat the oven to 325*

2 & 1/8 C.  All purpose flour

1/2 Tsp Salt

1/2 Tsp Baking soda

1 & 1/2 Sticks of Unsalted Butter (I had to use Imperial fake "butter") make sure to let it soften!

1 C. Brown sugar, lightly packed

1/2 C. White sugar

1 Large egg

1 Large egg yolk (remember my hand trick! seriously so easy)

2 TSP Vanilla extract

12 oz bag of M&M's

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking soda. 

Then, in a large bowl, cream the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar together until fluffy.

Add the egg/egg yolk, and vanilla. Mix well

Fold the dry ingredients into the wet until just combined.  Don't over-mix! :) 

Fold in 3/4 of the bag of M&M's

Pour the batter into a greased 9x13 pan.  Boob drawings are optional. 

Sprinkle remaining M&M's on top, and press lightly.  

Bake for 25 minutes until the top is a nice golden brown.  

One my first attempt, I stabbed the middle to check for "doneness" and that was a mistake.  It collapsed :( and then my gorgeous gold went to a dark tan.  Sad panda.  

Cool completely before cutting, unless you are like me and know you will only get to try them if you do it while they are still warm (because your fella gets up 2 hours before you, and is taking them to work)

Thank you Amy for your ongoing support! For your awesome blog of deliciousness!  And for coming up with this recipe in the first place! :) 

I'm too young for this!

Recently I have found a new blog to follow, and have been enjoying it quite a bit.  A mom is using it as her way to talk to the world, but still maintain some anonymity.  Recently she wrote a post about having a procedure in her late 20's, that most people don't have until 50.  While reading it, I felt that it was unfortunate, but good that she got it done if she needed it.  Plus she put a funny spin on it, which makes it enjoyable to read (especially when others are going through similar things).

So this brings me to my blog post today... oh the fun things I am about to type.  The lovely embarrassing information that you will soon read.  I use the phrase "omg" a lot in this post, because those are the words I would often say to Joshua, when he would ask what was wrong.  *sigh*

One word.
Months of increasing agony.
Hemorrhoids.

I got one, one single little tiny lump, when I was pregnant.  I asked my doctor about it, and she told me it would probably go away after I had the baby.  It didn't.  But it was so tiny, it was pretty much unnoticeable and I guess I just didn't notice it enough to care about it.  I had a new baby, and it was a very busy year.  That was 2011.  Around November of 2012 I got another one :( It still wasn't a big enough deal for me to go in to see anyone about it, I just dealt with it, and basically ignored it.  I took more care to add fiber into my diet (good thing I love broccoli and apple juice!) and it all seemed in order... but only for a little while.  Fast forward to March 2013.  Pain, burning, bleeding, and omg the itching.  Yes, I said it, I admit it!  I have woken up in the middle of the night to find myself scratching like I had a million dollar lotto ticket and a quarter in my fingers.  I can not even describe the itchyness.  You can not understand!  It isn't like a guy who has itchy balls, or like a mosquito bite... it is just, omg.  That is all I can say.  OMG.  <--- right there, only description.  

It took me about a month to finally get insurance switched over to the hospital my daughter goes to.  I haven't had a need to see a physician since we moved here, so I did not have one yet.  Mine was still 3 hours South.  Finally booked an appt. for a Wednesday morning.  That day came... and about 40 minutes before we would be there (we were about to walk out the door, my 19 month old and myself) we get a call saying the appt. was cancelled.  :'( I literally started crying on the phone.  That is how bad it was.  That is how miserable I have been.  Almost 5 months of increasing discomfort.  I know I should have gone sooner, but I have this complex about going to the hospital.  I always feel like I am making a big deal about nothing when it comes to my health.  I don't want to waste their time or waste money.  If it is Joshua or our daughter, I am there, but with me... I would rather not.  So sobbing on the phone as the rude woman tells me that someone made a mistake and there was no appt. at that time available.  When I was crying, saying I understood and to please just make me a new appt. she actually chose to talk really loudly over me, and SHE sounded annoyed.  Psssht.  Anyway, I got an appt. for the following Wednesday (today!) and I was okay again.  It sucked waiting another week, but today finally arrived!

I went in, and finally got some help.  Unfortunately it was not what I had hoped for.  I am told I will just always have them.  They won't shrink away, or go away, or anything :( but I did get two different sets of pills, a special cream with steroids, and I got put on a special diet.  I am not allowed to eat citrusy foods or anything spicy.  I am 24 years old... what the fuck?!  I am not old enough to be put on a special diet.  I am not old enough to have to take a pill every single day, and then another pill and cream whenever a problem flares up.  This is not cool!  I go back for a follow up in 2 weeks, and if these things haven't helped get rid of the symptoms, I get to talk to a specialist and discuss surgery.  SURGERY?!  How can something seem so insignificant, and small, be something that causes such huge problems.  Ugh.  Joshua laughed when I told him I was put on a special diet forever, until I told him what it was.  We are both in mourning.  I could eat jalapeno poppers every single day.  I already do drink orange juice all the time.  I am that crazy person at restaurants who wants a bowl of lemons, and just eats the lemons instead of squeezing the juice in my beverage.  I did find a loophole though :D

The pharmacist at my grocery store has become my new best friend.  He has helped me quite a few times recently.  He helped me find Evee an age appropriate multi-vitamin after a doctor recommended she have one.  Next he helped me find her some allergy medicine that wouldn't make her sleepy and would be okay for her weight and age.  He is my hero now, so of course I went to him when looking for my new daily stool softener (omg I can't believe I just typed that sentence).  He remembered me, and we had discussed my upcoming appt. on a previous visit because I was curious if there was a product I hadn't tried yet.  Before making the doctors appt. I had tried witchhazel in a bath tub, on a pad, tucks wipes, preparation H., some pill that I can't remember its name, and an anal cream that you actually insert inside you.  None of those things helped.  He told me they would probably give me a cream with steroids in it.  Yep, that is what I got.  He asked me how the appt. went, and I told him about the worst part (my new diet).  He told me I can still rock my OJ or lemon wedges (etc) once in a while, but I should eat a couple Tums afterwards so it doesn't bother anything too much.  He also taught me some things about my intestines that I didn't know.  I love learning! :)

So today was a sucky day when you think of the 2 hours at the doctors office (mostly spent waiting), the insane thunderstorm we had on the way home, the toddler freak outs, and my new regime.  However, I got home at the same time Joshua did, so we walked in together under an umbrella :) We had pizza for the first time in a long time, and the 3 of us watched Rio for the first time (extremely cute movie!).

This is probably the most embarrassing post I will ever write.  So I decided to Google some funny pictures or memes about it :)

Oh, and one last thing! I got myself a bag of chocolate peanut butter bugles today!  I figure it is the least I owe myself after having not one, but two different peoples fingers up my ass today, while trying to hold a toddler on a table next to me, who ends up dangling off the edge... yes, you read that right.  People probing my butt, while I am laying on my side, while my daughter (who was at one point just sitting by me) decides to leap off the edge, so I am holding her by her arms... It was a long day.  Enjoy the funny pictures!

This song is about me!

I can't be (and refuse to ever believe I am) the only person who has heard a song, and felt that somehow it was for them.  That lovely feeling when you hear the lyrics, and for a moment you don't feel alone.  Someone else hurt like this, someone else went through this, yada yada yada.

I remember feeling that way so often when I was in other relationships.  With my last real relationship, before Joshua, I was a disaster.  He was a disaster.  The relationship was just not... well a relationship.  He hurt me, I hurt him because he hurt me, and the cycle continued.  Looking back at it now, it is like watching one of those drama chick flicks.  There's a nice guy trying to woo a girl.  He is cute, he cares about her, he wants her to leave her horrible boyfriend... and as you watch this movie, you just want to tell the chick to shut the fuck up about her problems and go for the friend.  You can't figure out why she is still with the douche, and why she hasn't noticed the sweetheart next to her.  Maybe the reason why I hate those movies, and only watch them when my best friend forces me to (usually with an offer of food), is because that was me.  I was that idiot.  How could I not see it?

Well, that is actually pretty clear now... it was an addiction.  He was an addiction.  Three sweet words after a thousand mean ones somehow made it all better.  Crazy right?  I know this now.  I don't see how I couldn't then.  Even as I was singing Kelly Clarkson's "Already gone" in my car on the way to work every day, fantasizing about breaking up and moving on... it all disappeared once we were together again.  Blech (<--- insert vomit noise at the thought).

By the way, Joshua wasn't the sweet friend either.  Joshua I met a little while after I tried to date the sweet friend.  He was very sweet, and I hope he has found happiness and a wonderful life.  He just didn't spark any real feelings for me.  I still felt that addiction for the last guy.  But then I met Joshua :)

It didn't even take a week, and it was like... I don't even know.  This amazing feeling.  I didn't feel like I needed to be around him 24/7, or that I had to hear his voice every day.  It wasn't an addiction.  It was just a happiness.  I just felt happy.  I felt happy about who I was.  I felt happy about who he was.  Even his irritating habits (because everyone has them) weren't that big a deal because I was smiling at them after just a few times.  Like when he plays video games, sometimes he gets a super high voice and goes Weeeeeeeeeeeeeee!  That drove me crazy the first couple of weeks.  I was like, wtf dude, chill out!  (in my head of course).  Now it just makes me laugh :) years later, it just makes me laugh.  It never became annoying or irritating again.  What a wonderful thing.  (not to say he still doesn't have some annoying habits, he could never be my charades partner)

So what does this have to do with songs?

Today I decided to surprise him, by getting him a sub from our favorite sandwich place Captain Nemos.  I am watching a friends daughter tonight, starting at the time he gets home (in about 15) until after he is asleep.  We won't really see each other today :( so I wanted to get him something special.  I also got him coffee, but he knew I was getting that haha.

On the way home, I took our daughter to the park.  Since the trip is about a half hour each way, I had my MP3 player with me.  I took it out, and started it on shuffle.  Dance Floor Anthem by Good Charlotte came on.  As I was singing, and bopping my head, like the badass woman with the umbrella stroller carrying a daughter with a yoda hat (complete with pink bow on his ear) that I am... I realized that this was one of those songs that I used to listen to in the before period of my life.  One of those songs I put on the playlist simply titled with the before mans name.  I still enjoy the song, but it means nothing.  Then onto the next song after that one was finished.  Same thing.  A song that was sad, and all why cant he love me? and what am I doing wrong?  Etc.  I once again just want to say shut up you fucking idiot and move on.  :) But I know it isn't that easy.  It seems so easy to look back on it, or to judge someone else on their similar relationships.  Even yesterday someone was telling me how they have been trying to get through to their guy for over a year, and how things only change when she threatens to leave.  Then they go back to normal.  I told her that she only has one life, and she can stick it out, she can try to make it work.  I also told her that if she feels like she is wasting her time, then she needs to stop right now.  She won't get these years back.  She won't be the same person in the future.  She said it was good advice, but I doubt she will listen.  *sigh*  Once you find Mr. Right, it seems so crazy that anyone would want to settle for less.  Not to say we don't have our share of problems, we definitely do.  (Before you thought we were perfect, I thought I should clarify that)

The only sad part now is that I need to find songs to relate to... *sigh* any suggestions? :P

Bunny Day Weekend Celebrations!

So the fella and I were discussing things this month.  Budgeting for the holidays, and all that fun stuff that isn't all that fun (though I must say I enjoy the shopping!)

During our discussions, we decided something.  We realized we do not celebrate Easter.  We celebrate finding eggs, pigging out, and being lazy afterwards.  We celebrate eating candy, and watching movies while cuddling on the couch.

So from now on, we will celebrate Bunny Day.  I am not sure how this will work for us.  The reason we made this tiny change is because we didn't want to bring insult to a holiday that people are so close to.  How dare we say Happy Easter! when we have no ties to Easter for what it really represents.  However there are those who will probably say "How dare you make jests or celebrate a bunny on our holy day!"  But it is truly meant to be a good thing.  Really.

So I would like to share with you, our first ever Bunny Day Celebration :)

We woke up in the morning with a holiday inspired breakfast...

Orange Sweet Rolls, unrolled and re-rolled to look like bunnies.  Raisins for eyes.  :) 

We also had scrambled eggs, or chicks :) (I can't decide if that is cute or morbid)

After breakfast, our little girl got dressed, and did her first egg hunt.  She did well.  She had trouble finding the eggs (that weren't really hidden) at first, but no trouble putting them into her basket.  She also had no trouble getting into the goodies later.  She lost her mind when she found her basket!

Eating a marshmallow pop.  Sugar highs are okay on special holidays right? 

She did well all day, with not tantrums, or anything :) She took a normal nap too!

(no sugar crash, phew, I am not the worse mom ever!)

Joshua was pretty excited for his basket too.  I think I have said so before, but I get really excited at the holidays... so Joshua gets one too!  He had to search for it and everything.  I filled it with candy, beef jerky, a new book, a nice smelling candle, and a new water bottle to replace his broken one.  :) he seemed to really like it.  

Joshua surprised us this year (surprised, because he isn't into holidays like I am haha) by bringing home our daughter a bag of goodies :) including a new bunny headband, that she has chosen to be her new favorite necklace.  Goofy children.  

So, in our area of Chicago, the park distric had about 5 different egg hunts going on.  We chose to go to the two that worked with our schedule, and were within walking distance.  

The first was really cool.  The eggs were all empty, but they were dumped everywhere in this giant gym!  There were tons of kids toys, little shopping carts, slides, work stations, and even some crafting stations for older kids.  She loved the slide the most, though the first trip down it was a little scary for her I think.  

But she sure was brave with Daddy by her side

<3

After collecting eggs, you could bring them up and get a prize.  She got a rainbow colored bunny :) She cuddled it all the way to the next egg hunt.  But before we left, we had to get some pictures of her with Mr. Hippity Hop.  I know that kids are normally scared of the crazy people inside the costumes... but ours was all about it.  We actually had to hold her back so she didn't ruin other peoples photos (our mini photo bomber, starting already! You will do great things child!!!)

Afterwards, she gave him a high five, and then went on collecting more eggs.

Doesn't she look excited?

This was right before we left, she was getting a little tired.  

So we left this park building, so we could go to one more egg hunt.  I have never heard my daughter so sad to leave a place.  She was having so much fun!  I felt bad going, but we wanted to go to one more before heading home.  I had a ham in the oven! (oh yeah, and we had a guest at home that we probably shouldn't leave alone on the holiday we invited him for haha).

So we get to the next place, and it has just started.  However there are older kids here, and all the eggs are already gone :( I feel like at a public event, they should put a limit on how many eggs each kid can claim (just so they aren't all gone in less than 5 minutes).

She had a ton of fun regardless :) 

Tons of balloons!  Everywhere! 

She would get into the middle of a bunch, then just go crazy swatting them away!

So many giggles, and so many smiles :) 

One of the best parts of the day.

It was tons of fun, and I have to mention that I looked up and saw a guy that looked just like Jaqen H''ghar!  So much so, that I went to my fella, and told him to look over.  I said "I have found the man of many faces!"  Turns out he had already found him, so he just said very excitedly "I know!!!"  Pretty sure Jaqen saw me looking a few times.  It was weird to see the man from Bravos in jeans.

Here are a couple other pictures from the dimly lit, no eggs left, egg hunt (that was still awesome.  balloons? genius!)

Then we went home.  She was ready for her nap, so down she went.  This was great, because it allowed me to finish my cooking.  We didn't eat until about 3, but totally worth the wait.  I am pretty sure it was the best ham I have ever had/made.  

Best Ham:

10 lb spiral cut ham

1 cup brown sugar

1 tbsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground cloves

1.5 tsp mustard powder

1/4 cup honey

1 can of crushed pineapple

Combine dry ingredients, then rub all over ham.  Pour the pineapple over everything, and then basically recover it until the whole thing is well saturated.  Then drizzle the honey on top.  :) It was soooo good! The bottom of the ham was the sweetest, since it was in the juices the whole time, but the top was sweet and salty.  Either way it was delicious!  Even our little girl couldn't get enough.  We cooked it at 325, for 15 minutes per pound.  

We also had croissant rolls, corn bread muffins, cheesy green bean casserole, deviled eggs, mini bread loafs, mashed potatoes, fruit, veggies, homemade spinach dip, and an assortment of other little snacks and desserts to last us for at least the rest of the week.

I tried to do that cute Pinterest Chick Deviled eggs thing, but they did not turn out quite right looking.  They were delicious though :) 

I also did this mushroom recipe from Pinterest.  They came out amazing!  Mmmm balsamic mushrooms.  Who can resist?  At least in our family I mean... 

I wanted to make some spinach dip also, but found many problems when looking for a good recipe :( 

For one, I don't like water chestnuts.  For two, I can't eat onions without feeling kind of sick.  That means those Knorr Vegetable Soup packs are out :( as well as the green onions.  I didn't want to use a big thing of sour cream, that just didn't seem healthy, neither did cream cheese.  With the amount of sugar on the ham, I figured I should cut back where I could. 

This is my Spinach Dip recipe, and the fella couldn't get enough of it!  You can sort of see in the picture below, that I had made the dip into a bunny, but it was eaten up before I could get a good picture of it. 

Spinach Dip:

3 cups loosely packed frozen spinach leaves

1 personal size Choboni plain greek yogurt cup

1/2 C. lite mayo

3 shakes onion powder

3 shakes garlic powder

put spinach into food processor, and pulse.  Then add everything else and process on low until blended to desired consistency.

It took me less than 5 minutes to make, and then I just spooned it into the middle of a hawaiian bread round roll thing.  Too good!  In the future I would probably add some red pepper to it as well.  

Here is our Bunny Day feast!

It was a great day.  

We watched Wreck it Ralph while we ate.  A great movie that you should see if you haven't already.  We really enjoyed all of the little cameos from other games.  

We also read the new books that were in our daughters basket, multiple times.  I highly recommend this one.  It was very cute, and I really enjoyed reading it :) 

That was our first annual Bunny Day Celebration.  It was wonderful.  I wish we could do something like that every weekend, but only if someone else is coming to do the dishes ;) 

We held it on Saturday, instead of Sunday, to further separate it from the religious holiday... and because GoT's season 3 premiere was Sunday night. 

For that we went to Joshua's brothers house, where we ate some delicious spaghetti, in homemade sauce, while watching the thrilling premiere! 

Then we went home, exhausted from the weekend, but so happy.  But mostly exhausted...

I hope everyone else had a wonderful weekend.

Funeral Sandwich Review

So I have been seeing these "funeral sandwiches" everywhere on Pinterest lately.  They looked yummy, they sound yummy, they even got put into my planner for my daughters second birthday.  I made them last night...

:/  They were okay.  Definitely not a favorite.  The first two I ate were tasty, not something I would order twice at a restaurant, but something I would be glad that I tried.  The next one I ate though, was not very good at all :(

I followed the recipe, except I hate swiss cheese, so I used cheddar.  This was not the problem.  I love ham and cheese.  I probably eat entirely too many hot ham and cheeses.  The problem was the sauce.  While the sauce was delicious on the first two, the third was overly sweet.   The recipe calls for brown sugar, which was added, and blended well.  But some of the sandwiches must have been craving something sweet, because they soaked it up.  Joshua and I discussed it, and he wanted me to save the leftovers.  He said that they were good, and he will eat them, but we both agreed not to add them to regular rotations.  I would say that they are worth a shot to make, but keep an open mind about the sauce.  Maybe don't add all of the sugar if you aren't a fan of super sweet (which I actually love sweet, so that is a shame).

Enjoyable Chaos

My daughter has taken to the movie The Lorax recently.  I got it for her for Christmas, during one of Amazons amazing lightning deals (why are these not year round?!) 

She would watch it in the morning, and then in the afternoon, and then again at night. 

She wasn't always watching it, she would play, and read her books, or have me read her books... but if it wasn't on, she would want it on.  She liked the noise, and the songs.  

I enjoyed the movie too, through January, and most of February.  At the end of February, I was starting to tire though.  Before I loathed the movie like I would an overplayed "song" on the radio, I decided we needed something new.  

At Target, I saw they were having lots of sales, so we picked up Horton Hears a Who.  I thought that the Dr. Seuss theme would be enough.  It wasn't. 

Countless tries later (Hercules, Monsters Inc, Cinderella, The Emperors New Groove, Tangled, etc) we still had no winner.  

She had however, taken to carrying around her little Elmo doll that she got for Christmas :) 

SO what did I try?  Sesame Street.  Ding Ding Ding.  We have a winner.  So that is what is on.  She basically watches Elmo, and will dance when a song comes on, but otherwise she goes about her business as normal.  She just wants the noise.  

I really can't blame her, she gets that from me.  I watch movies, and shows as someone else might listen to music.  I like the dialogue, and painting the picture in my head rather than just seeing it.  Similar to an audio book, but without as many details.  It's okay though, because I have seen it before at some point.  I can pinpoint most episodes of The Office just by hearing a couple lines (newest seasons excluded).  I know that shouldn't be something to brag about, and is actually kind of pathetic, but I take my accomplishments where I get them :)

yeah, that's right.  ^ like a boss.

So now our morning routine is pretty much laid out.  I hear her in her room, singing gibberish, but what a beautiful song it is!  Then I get up, use the bathroom (she hears of course), and am hurried by a chorus of "mama? mama? mama? mama?"   Who could refuse such a sweet call?  

She literally jump/climbs into my arms as soon as I am in distance, and then tries to fall back so she can get her sippy cup.  It is a circus routine that we have had to perfect, so that no heads are smashed on crib rails.  I am now pretty good at grabbing her cup as she climbs, so that we don't have to have those 30 seconds of panic.  I sit her down with her breakfast, she eats it, and sometimes brings me the remote asking for her show (or she will bring me Elmo).  After breakfast, we change her diaper, and she takes it herself to throw away.  How is she so smart? 

 These are not our most flattering images...

 ...and contrary to popular belief, she was not imitating me.

 I was copying the faces that she was making, which she found hilarious, so she kept making them.

Also... who taught her the duck face?  Relatives be warned!  She is too young still! :) but oh so cute!

She has also learned that dress up is a wonderful game.  I didn't teach her this, she just came into it on her own.  She now has her own necklaces at play time, that she will go and put on.  Ones with clasps, she brings to me.  She doesn't get them for naps, and they are few for easy accountability, but she loves them :) What she loves even more is playing dress up with Daddy :)

But our little princess is not all glitz, glam, and glitter.  Oh no.  Not the product of such parents as Joshua and I.  That could just never be!  

Behold our dear darling daughter, and what is in her hand? Why it is her fathers Dungeons and Dragons box.  It was under his desk, and now it is by mine.  She carried it part way (amaze-balls! it isn't light) and then pushed it the rest of the way. 

Then she turned in her early reader books for something a bit more substantial.  Mommy and Daddy have been reading A Song of Ice and Fire series (I just started book 3, about 100 pages in! :D Joshua is on book 4!) so of course Evee has to read them too.  She doesn't like what is on this page apparently.  It must be about Joffrey then.  I know you couldn't hear or see me just now, but I made a gross noise and a mean face at the thought of the "King."  

This whole post was pretty random, which is how things have been lately.  I felt it was fitting.

My daughter just turned 18 months old, and I feel like she is at least 10 sometimes.  So smart. 

I have made new recipes, played with icing tips, and hosted a toddler painting party (the toddlers painted, and were painted on, by themselves).  I wish I was a better photographer to capture these things.  Working on it!  Nap schedules have been changed, working schedules adjusted, new friends greeted, playdates schedules, mommy dates scheduled, mommy-daddy dates scheduled :) 

I still am excited for the years to come when we can leave this place, and move somewhere else, but it isn't as bad as I had thought it was.  Soon it will be warm, and then I think it will be much better :) 

Sorry for all my ramblings, going on little sleep, just taking the time to type during naptime, when I should probably be eating something instead... oh well.