As Fall Arrives

Fall is here... as of tomorrow, officially.

It sure doesn't feel like the fall we're used to.. and that is FINE by us!

We've been enjoying the warm and sunshine and I have not stopped to say "Wow its Hot!" At all.. I remember where we came from.

Samantha had a half day last week, and this is how she wanted to spend the extra time, at the beach of course! Andrew is SOOOO happy when she is with us. When its just him and I, it isn't nearly as much fun as having big sister there too. They come up with all sorts of hilarious games, and they swim together ..Below I think they were jumping off a sand bar and they probably did this 40 times at least.

Even though its still 90 and sunny, I felt the urge to bake.

I used Trader Joe's pumpkin bread mix and turned them into cupcakes and mini pumpkins.

 

These two are already thinking about Halloween time.

Andrew keeps saying he wants to be a Bat or a Ghost.

Samantha wants to be some kind of Monster High girl. The name changes every day.

 

Running has never been more beautiful.

Living on a golf course and running past the open scenery just never gets old. The Carolina pine trees are so pretty and that distinct smell - one I remember the first time I flew here to meet Mathew.. I think of that every time I get a hint of the pine smell.

Pumpkin all things... all day.

 

I tried a new granola recipe and it was pretty good. Since it had the word PUMPKIN in it..thats what really motivated me to make it.. I'll be honest.

Ive come across the cutest beachy coastal thrift stores here, its the thrill of the hunt that draws me in. Ive found so many cute DIY project bases, cute decorations and vintage items on the cheap! And Andrew loves going too... he appreciates the need to browse and take our time

Sunday Funday last weekend at the beach.

It was so calm and relaxing ... and the water was so calm.

Today.... theres a hurricane heading our way, but last weekend it was gorgeous.

I went on baking up a storm in the air conditioning.

I made my FIRST ever pecan pie in mini mason jars

Omg. I had never had a pecan pie ever before this ... and it might be my new favorite pie and favorite way to eat pie. Theres only one more left and Im hoarding it in the fridge for an appropriate time.

 

I've falled up the house a little bit, and now tomorrow being October 1st - I feel like I need to incorporate a lot of Halloween into it

I couldn't resist this adorable garland



It doesnt really feel like fall outside yet... But inside we have the pumpkin and apple candles on rotation, and everything decorated for the harvest 

Vanilla Cake Truffles {No Bake}

I needed something sweet and chocolate. Bad.

Good ole Pinterest helped me out with this one.

 

Vanilla Cake Batter No Bake Truffles

Heaven.... I felt much better after I made these.

 

I found the recipe HERE.

 

5 Ingredients:

1 cup vanilla cake mix

1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk + 1 tbsp.

1/2 tbsp. vanilla extract

1 1/2 - 2 cups semi sweet choc chips - or wafers or almond bark

 

Mix all but chocolate in bowl and combine

 



It will be kinda pasty - maybe a little dry.  - that's okay.

Make sure its the correct consistency to roll into balls.. either add more sc milk or cake mix ...

then pop into the freezer to firm ( @ 10 min) so you can roll into balls



I lined a 9x9 baking pan with parchment and rolled the pasty batter into dough balls about 1/2 inch

Then put them back in the freezer for a good 15 min.

 

Melt your chocolate of choice, and dip.

They turned out really good.

Thanks averie cooks for this super easy and amazing indulgence!



Since I made these I have pinned a few other variations, one being Cake Batter flavored - rolled in sprinkles. That may be my next trial.

This was the perfect pick-me-up-chocolate-sweet-tooth-attack yet.

Life by the Beach



This is our new spot after dinner some nights.

The beach is about 10 minutes away, and if Andrew has napped that day.. we most likely head down for a swim. The ocean has been so so warm, bath water.

 

This one is for sure a water baby.

Born here, she heard the waves while in utero as we would walk this beach nightly right up until I delivered her. She loves jumping over the waves, boogie boarding and just sitting at the foot of the tide. I have trouble getting her to leave some days. 

This one..

The first encounter with a wave tossing him under water was dramatic.

We had to leave the beach that day after he went under.

But every time since then, he gets it.

He goes under and maybe coughs.. salt water in the eyes, and he wipes them clean by himself.

We're getting there.

Big sis and I are always praising him when he gets  thrown under or nearly drowns.. saying "good boy!" haha. He'll get there. 

My nightly runs aren't as sweaty and soggy as I imagined.

The heat really hasn't affected me. Its so quiet and breezy just off the intercoastal where we live. I stumbled across this amazing scene on my run last week and had to stop. It was so beautiful.

We've been exploring our little town, and Samantha and I found a cute little pottery place that I think we might have to go back to soon. I have my mug obsessed eye on this one in the picture below.

I got myself a library card, and the kids and I have been going and checking out movies and books. I got one for myself and was feeling very Carrie Bradshaw the other night while I was laying in bed with my library book - The Skinnytaste Cookbook. - I tell ya.. I am hooked. I love just about every recipe in this cookbook, and I've already made a few and have tomorrow's dinner planned out from it as well. What a great way to try before you buy a cookbook. This library thing is quite practical and cute if I do say so ... 

I don't take the kids to the beach every day.... so last week we did a few fun things.. and I needed go into town to World Market - and we stopped by B&N after. The kids were hooked on the nooks. Santa may have to put two of these on his list this year ...

One more amazing thing about living on the Atlantic, is the opportunity to have this type of colossal shrimp for dinner on any given day. 

I made shrimp and grits with these guys.

 

It was from the Skinnytaste Cookbook (of course) and it was my first time making grits. I tried to convince Sam that grits tastes like mac and cheese... she wasn't buying it...

 



We're finally coming into our little routine after being here a month.

Next week our big girl goes off to school and the routine will change a bit.

No more snoozing in summer days. But its a good thing.

Im afraid she gets a little frayed some days. School will be awesome for her... um, and me too...

One on one time with my lil hunk is the best, and Im looking forward to it. a lot.

 



The Journey South

Zero Dark Thirty.

I was ready, but I wasnt. I was tired, but awake.

I woke up Samantha first. She was so good about it. Got right in the car with her cozy blankies and waited patiently for us to load more, and get Andrew.

We loaded up the coolers, and every last bag, sippy cup/... and then I headed up for the big guy.

He didnt wake up easy. He said "no no.. I still sleeping, I want to stay at Baki's house".. My mother in law suggested I just grab him, There was going to be no negotiating at 4am. So he cried for a little bit, but by the time we were outside wrapped in his "debbie" he shouted "Oh! Look at those stars Mama.. theyre so bright"... I knew we'd be okay... 

He talked for a solid hour  when we first started our journey.. stars, the moon, its dark, I think we're going to the new house. Where are we going? (that phrase was on repeat the ENTIRE drive) .. "where are we going?" He kept asking.

He finally and she too .. passed out again and slept for a while just as we started to get close to Columbus, and as the sun was rising.

Columbus, Ohio - 6:15am
I took over around Mansfield - and drove to the West Virginia border.
Daddy doesnt realize that I never sleep... so getting up at 4am and drinking Starbucks .. I was rearing to go.. hah ... While everyone else was sleeping away.

We crossed the Ohio river (below) and into West Virgina around 9:30am I think?

West Virgina -- and into Virginia.. Andrew decided to barf all over the carseat and our car. I think it may have been all the winding roads and hills.. just a hunch.

We stopped to clean up and threw the carseat in a dumpster.

He was upgraded to a booster for the rest of the trip if that tells you how gross and how much was covered. -- We took a bathroom break, and so did Andrew. He was training himself while we were in Ohio and I had a diaper on him for the ride down... He hated peeing in his diaper, so he held it for several hours (we were shocked)...He did so good... minus the puking..

As we drove closer to the NC border, it started to look so pretty and calm.



We crossed into our new home state around 12:00 noon - with only 4.5 hours left.

The kids took one more short nap, and woke when we were around Raleigh. And then.... yep.. Andrew got sick again. Not as much this time... And I cought it ALL in a plastic cup.. Thank god! We pulled off the road at the Chapel Hill exit to use the bathroom again.. and then that was it..

We drove on to our new house.. and all was well with us arriving at 4:30pm.

It wasn't weird at all.. It was like we never left.

It still hasn't settled in yet, for me anyways.. that we are 800 miles away from our old house. 800 miles away from our family. It doesn't feel that far.

 

We've adjusted well these past 3 weeks I think.

At first the kids didn't really know how to keep themselves busy.. and all I/we wanted to do was unpack boxes, organize our stuff and begin living normal again. But with two kiddos in tow. it was rather ... Unpack when they're sleeping.. Organize when theyre in bed.. That was the deal so I tried to have patience. My OCD nerves were shot! ha!

 

We wasted no time at all and soaked up tons of beach time since we've been here.

 

I grabbed a few new magazines at the grocery store and even got to sip my coffee and page through the pretty southern pictures and recipes that sound so so yummy.

 

All of my pretty things are in its place for the most part which makes me feel accomplished.

 



 

And we're eating normal meals again.. instead of grabbing whatever mish mosh we can put together or eating fast food.

 

I've been running in our new neighborhood almost every other day.

Its so beautiful. I think we'll be happy here. One thing I totally love is the smell of the Carolina pine trees. I smelled it immediately when we got into our new town and we were off the highway finally after 13 hours and we had the windows down.

 

I remember stepping off the plane numerous times in Jacksonville when I would visit here when dating my husband, and that pine smell reminds me of that sweet sweet time in our lives. And now we get to live here. Where it all began.

Goodnight from Carolina!

Goodbye Buffalo - Hello, Ohio?

The big day before many upcoming big days was upon us.

The moving truck.

Finally we were starting our journey.

It was getting real.

Looking back now (as I type this from my bed in North Carolina)... It went so fast (these few days when we had the moving truck). Seemed like we waited forever to get the truck, fill the truck, and  then the day was here.

The kids thought it was great. Hopping around in the truck and even helping us move some boxes. 

Daddy and I loaded what we could by ourselves, and I got the kids (and I ) ready for the drive to Ohio. We decided it would be easier if I took the kids by myself to Ohio for about a week, and Daddy would do all the dirty work, close up the house, move the truck and one of our cars down south first. Then fly to Ohio and we'd all make the long drive together once everything was in our house that we are renting.


Leaving Buffalo is bittersweet.
We know where we've been trying to be for a long time. We fell in love down here .. we had Samantha here. Its not strange to us, its familiar territory. But nothing will replace the 5 years we had in Buffalo. We had good times (mostly) and some trying times too.. Each a growing period that brought us to this very moment in time.

The house sold in 1 day. We moved all our stuff out 6 weeks later.. and we were on our way to our new chapter. 

I was kind of dreading a 4 hour drive by myself with two kids. 

But it was pretty darn easy. 

Samantha was my little Momma, wiping her brother's nose when he sneezed, handing him tissues, and toys, and drinks, and sharing snacks while they watched DVD's

It poured like crazy the WHOLE way. 

In Erie I felt like we were in a snow storm at one point I could hardly see in front of me.

But they were good.

They both slept a little. And we made it to Ohio in just under 3.5 hours.

We were reunited with our little furry guy who is staying in Ohio until we have a permanent place here and its ok for him to come down. The kids really loved seeing and torturing him. The poor guy.

We kept busy while Daddy moved us.

we played with his old cars he loved when he was a kid.

we discovered our love of fans, turning on lights, and stuffing tissues inside fans

This guy also decided to begin potty training on his own.

I wasnt planning on turning up the heat on this subject until we arrived and got settled in NC. But this was ALL On him. He was doing great. I kept him in diapers though.. but kept asking him if he needed to go, and he was staying dry for 6+ hours at a time. 

We visited a few parks, Samantha had a fun sleepover with her cousins, we ate some great food every single day, and made some cookies (Oat Cakes) Andrew's favorite.

We went to their cousin's house for grilled pizzas one night, followed by the annual "beating of Paw" which all grandchildren love.

And since he was really into this potty training thing, and bribery was/is the name of the game, I found these awesome vitamin C "popcicles" lollies at Home Goods when Andrew and I went shopping one day. He continued to do great all week, and was so proud to show Daddy when he got there.

For a treat, the last day we were in Ohio, we took the kids, and met the cousins at this cute little (and old) kiddie park. It was similar to the park we took the kids to in Olcott by our old house.. cheap rides and all little kid style. My kids are suckers for carnivals. 

We were a little nervous about putting Andrew on this little roller coaster.

Just cause it was the fastest and a little jerky.. But he LOVED it. Was laughing and screaming the whole time. Carnival junkie, all the way.

He loved it so much that he and I stayed so he could ride more rides, and the girls and the Daddies.. went to lunch. 

He quickly passed out on the way home. 

Success..

We had one last yummy steak dinner that evening, and then all went to bed early and set our alarms for 4:00am. Yes thats right, 4 AM. (Yawwwwn*)