Busy Busy Sunday!

I woke up this morning and there were dark clouds and brisk winds.. we were on the very tail end of Hurricane Irene, we saw now rain, but had winds and heavy clouds.. I tend to be more productive on days like this, and today was no exception.

I started out by making my coffee, and then (after watching the premier of "The Pioneer Woman" on Food Network) I made her "Sunrise Punch"

Milk, OJ, Pineapple Juice, Cream, Merengue Powder & Ice Cubes.

It was really really good
Then I made some Cinnamon Sugar French toast on Texas Toast Bread.. so so good.

After our breakfast we didnt know what we wanted to do.. but it was such a nice "fall feeling" day, so I packed up some snacks, diapers, and we got in the car, we ended up at the Zoo!

Samantha saw soooo many animals, and of course we HAD to ride some rides. She went on the train twice...

And the Carousel with Momma

She wanted to ride a "mini" horse.. so that's what we did.

{hi daddy!}

We loved seeing her reactions to all the animals, she would get so excited... and it just melts my heart with happiness.. she is so precious!

We decided before we left to get a Zoo Membership.. so I think we'll be back soon, maybe even next weekend..

I love the Polar Bears.. they are so cute!

We left the zoo and grabbed a quick lunch on the way home. Samantha took a long long nap, and I got back in the kitchen.

I made homemade Chicken Soup, and Pizza Bites.

The soup I've been making for years, the Pizza Bites were a new recipe I found through a friend.

Its from THIS blog.. and a lot of her recipes look really good.

After dinner, Momma started uploading these pics to blogger, and had a little dessert... I had a craving for York Peppermints .. and Werthers. And finally we finished off the evening at another park, and then an ice cream cone from McDonalds on the way home..
It was a busy day.. and I know SJ will sleep really good tonight. We just had so much fun with her today, and love her to pieces!

This and That

I wanted to do a little update.. since I know I've been neglecting my blogging duties! I missed WILW, and SUYL this week.. geesh!

Anyways.. I guess I was busy because it was so nice outside, and I was getting ready for our annual block sale?.. Sure that sounds good.. haha..

We've been making many many trips to the park lately. Samantha loves it, and she asks to go everyday.. rain or shine. I cant even walk in the direction of the park without going anymore.. she knows which direction its in!

I did FINALLY get her to keep her sunglasses on! UGH... Not only does SJ look so cute, but she wasnt understanding till now that she could be in the sun, and not have to rub her eyes/look away...

Then today.. she let me keep a headband on her ALL DAY...May seem small to some, but .. the girl hates anything on her head.. she barely lets me put her hair in pig tails so I was really excited.

Our garage sale was a semi-success.. I sold some bar stools we bought for our condo in NC.. and here we dont have a "bar/breakfast table".. I sold a few cookbooks, odds and ends, clothes, and SJ's baby bouncy seat.. It had been in our basement, and it just seemed if I could get a good deal, I'll buy another one when I have to...

We went to BJ's tonight for our usual diapes, wipes, toilet paper stock up, and then we grilled chicken on the grill, corn on the cob, and portobello mushrooms.. mmmmm....

After bath, SJ and I headed up to the third floor.. she was playing and reading so I started cutting some fabric.. and I actually finished my very first Burp Cloth!!!!!!! I was so excited!!

A few weeks back, my Aunt came over and helped me get my sewing machine started,and taught me a few of the basics, but I havent really made anything until tonight.

Now I want to do MORE!! Im heading over to etsy, and ebay right now to see if I can snag some good deals on a few fabrics!

TA DA!!!!!!!

Hope everyone is having a good weekend!
Our baby is 23 months tomorrow.. and Im working on that post too.

Weekend Of Firsts and Visitors

Weekend of FIRSTS:

I realized too that this weekend, was a weekend of many FIRSTS:

My first Orchid!

Brought by my in-laws..

First Corn of the Season

{somebody loved the sweet corn!}

Samantha's FIRST Peep!

FIRST time its reached over 70 degrees since probably last September.

SJ touched her first WORM!

{wormy didnt make the picture.. ooops}

My in-laws were here this weekend from Ohio.

We now have an herb garden AND a huge vegetable garden ready for planting!

My Mother in Law has the most serene beautifully manicured back and front yard. Complete with their own GIGANTIC garden. They grow everything from Herbs and Tomatoes, to Beans, Carriots, Garlic, Onions .. even Horseradish (yes i said horseradish). So Im taking my tips for gardening from them since they are so good at it.

Samantha was so dis-interested in her Momma and Daddy this weekend.. It was all about "Papa.. Papa and Baba" as she calls them.

{Saturday Morning Breakfast and Coffee}

Friday night we had a

Seafood Fiesta. Mahi Mahi, Salmon and Crablegs, along with Potatoes, Corn on the Cob, and Salad.

and some Spring Green Cupcakes..

{I had leftover Buttercream... so why not?}

The weather was great .... warm and sunny ... I put up a bamboo shade in our sunporch and it just looked so pretty,

so much better than seeing snow piles!

Samantha got 2 easter baskets full of goodies

One from Baba and Papa, and the other from Mathew's bro/sis and nieces!

We got more bubbles and chalk in our baskets - we loved it!

{trying to figure out her bubbles}

And Sunday it was Sunny and near 70!

So we were back outdoors again!

{on the move}

SJ loves being outside..she throws little fits sometimes when its time to go in.

She is sleeping really great though, I must say.

It was a great weekend. I think since it was so "summer-like" it went by ALOT faster!

Finally Friday....

So its Friday!! Yeah!
No big plans for the weekend, maybe a trip to BJ's, a Sushi Date, and hopefully church...yes I said Church

Im just glad its here!

I am working on some painting orders over the weekend for my giveaway and an order for a name canvas that Im super excited about! (I'll post BOTH finished products on
3rd Floor Art .. not to worry)

While I was sketching these two orders, I looked over and saw Miss Samantha doing the same..



Hmm, a little budding Artiste in the making?

Anyways ... Happy Weekend to you all...

What are your plans?

this and that

Its been freeezing here lately.. until today. When I got in my car today it was 33! Now some of you reading this are probably thinking, "33 are you crazy!.. That IS still freezing!"...

Well compared to yesterday's whopping -1... It felt like a heat wave!

Weekend update:

We played, organized, and I caught this sweet picture while she was looking away.. I can finally put her hair in a little ponytail and I love how cute she looks!



We didnt do much of anything exciting.. since it was in the single digits all weekend, and grey and snowy... but always pretty I guess .. here's for looking on the bright side, right?

We did some grocery shopping though, and I made some meals.. Quesadillas, Chicken Soup, and A huge pot of Sauce.. MMMMM.. The house smelled so good when the sauce was cooking. I made enough to eat and freeze for later meals.

Monday, Shea, our nanny texted me a picture of Samantha during lunch.

I guess she likes her mama's sauce!

I also browsed the dollar section at Target this weekend, and found a few things that I had to have! I always get sucked in.. and then I say to myself, "geesh .. I mean for a dollar, its a steal!" Does anyone else have this problem? ha!



These shoes were too cute to pass up, and all of our floors minus the 3rd floor are hardwood, so on cold days.. we make sure she's always wearing slippers.


So that was our weekend, and look its almost Wednesday already.. hope the week goes fast! We do have some fun filled events planned for the upcoming weekend.

January Weekend

This weekend we didnt have much planned which was nice. It was the first weekend, since the holidays.

We went shopping Friday night at Dash's and got lots of food, since we didnt really have too much since getting back from Ohio (New Years Weekend)

We all woke up and had warmed croissants.. and Samantha found them extra yummy..as you can see...




We hung around in our pj's and I started making a few things.. like this delicious soup with beans/kale/sausage.. it was sooo delish... and I got the recipe from a fellow blogger who got the recipe from weight watchers.. so it was goood AND healthy to boot!


These dough for these cookies was made by my mother in law, we didnt have time to make cookies before leaving cleveland, so she gave me a hunk of dough to make at home. So I rolled them out and baked them, but never frosted them, so when I was out shopping I always hit the baking aisle.. and I found this:


Now, I thought its probably gross... and Im more of a make-your-own frosting type. But I didnt really have time, and knew Samantha wouldnt let me do all this cooking-baking too.. ha!

I tried it and it was DELISH!! Great quick fix for cookie frosting, I will definately be trying it again!

And I even had time to decorate them with some piggy sprinkles I found at the Amish Country in Ohio, in Nov.

And I also made some coconut clusters. Im mailing some packages to my sis in law (late xmas gift cause we missed her in Oh), and sister (birthday).. So if you're reading this Shauna, you're getting some chocolatey yummies!!



Saturday night Samantha woke up around 2am screaming...and she didnt go back to bed till 4am.. (after many tries with rocking, sleeping...) I decided that it may have been the beans from the soup I made? Who knows.. but I did make burritos a few weeks back, and she did the SAME thing in the middle of the night... NO MORE BEANS!!!

Ugh, yesterday we were both SO tired.. she was in so much pain in the afternoon, that I gave her a yucky up her butt.. to make her go.. after that she went, and I soaked her in a long hot bath.. and she was back to her old self again... thank goodness... I felt so bad for her.

She slept the entire night last night.. and I even had to try hard to get her up! Lazy bones slept till 7:45!!...

Weekend Full O' Nothin'

Well we had a chilly weekend here! Fall is definately here and dare I say winter is creeping around the corner? .. We didnt really do much this weekend, and I didnt realize it until I was actually speaking with Erica on the phone today.. ha!

We had the heaters crankin', the pumpkin spice candles burnin' and we layed around under blankets, and played with Samantha and her toys, read books, Momma cooked a little, Daddy cooked a little...and Momma baked a pie!

I just couldnt go through fall without baking at least 1 pie. Usually its cupcakes in my oven, but I needed a little break.

I'll be making cupcakes for Thanksgiving.. and for my cousin Brigid's Baby Shower next weekend so that will be quite enough..

Samantha has found some new things to be obsessed with.... I will try to post pics of her in action, but she loves stickers and coloring. I think I already have some of her coloring .. esp the previous post.

She is also a little mimic. Everything I do.. she does.. but some of her favorites are ... putting on lipgloss (we pretend of course) but she is learning how to get the caps off of some.. so i cant let her take them too far out of sight.

Playing hide and go seek. She knows how to play, and hides in the same spot everytime its her turn to hide.

Coloring.. if she sees a pen, crayon, marker... you BETTER let the girl color.. and for at least 20-30 minutes... Melt downs WILL occur with a half-assed coloring session.

Hot Water... We usually give her a bath or rinse off in the shower... and tonight she nearly fell asleep in Daddy's arms..

This pic is a little riskee... haha.. But you get the idea.. total relaxation.. and the Momma is tres jealous!