Pink Sparkly Boots, and Super Delicious Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies

 

I am seriously dying over how stinkin' cute these cowgirl boots are.  I am for sure getting them for my little cowgirl this winter, just hopefully not at 35$ a pop, I will have to look on Ebay, but they are of excellent quality.

Now, I have a question to ask.  Do any of you NOT have T.V.?  Because, we don't (yet) and I like it this way.  We seem to spend much more quality time together as a family since not having TV in our new place, (think Yahtzee, Scrabble, and Jenga) I am enjoying it, but today I realized that I may have to go back  to having TV, you see, I have a dilemma.  Since we don't have T.V., my husband decided that instead of spending all day together as a family like he promised today would be, he felt the need to go to his (usually drunk) friends house to catch part of a game- 1 1/2 hours part of a game, so I think I need to order some T.V.

Quite a dilemma, huh?!?!

 

Anyways, as I sit here stewing about my dilemma, I am eating my emotions in these delicious Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies, I even added cranberries to one batch of them.  YUM!!!

I got the super easy recipe from My Baking Addiction, it is rediculously easy, I even had all the ingredients on hand, which if you know me at all, never happens when I am trying to bake something.

They are my most favorite cookie in the whole world, but super expensive at the store for just 6 of them!

I hope you will try this recipe...

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

adapted from allrecipes

yields 16 large cookies

Ingredients

1 cup canned pumpkin
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon milk
1 tablespoon vanilla paste (extract will work just fine)
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Method

1. Combine pumpkin, sugar, vegetable oil, and egg. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon, and salt.
2. Dissolve the baking soda with the milk and stir in. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and mix well.
3. Add vanilla and chocolate chips.
4. Drop by spoonful on greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for approximately 10 minutes or until lightly brown and firm.


I will be posting a tutorial on this wreath for Halloween sometime tonight or tomorrow.

 

I just need to add a few more spooky elements, and then I will post it,

but right now I am going fishing with my family.

Have a great Sunday everyone

No more babies for a while

Hi ya'll!

At this moment I am reliving some moments that I am surprised to find I forgot about so quickly.  I am talking about the constant neediness and care that a newborn requires.  It was only 1 yr ago that I was in this position, how could I have forgot so quickly??  And, just for the record, it is not my newborn, I am babysitting her today and while she is cute, she cries an awful lot and needs burped after every feeding so her belly does not get upset and she requires so many diaper changes.

It's not that I have never been in this position before, it's just that I forgot about it. I am moving into the toddler years, I can just sit back and watch my child play, and talk, and discover.  My living room is no longer littered with pack n' plays or swings, or bottles, and blankets.  Life was starting to get easy, and then I offered to watch a new born.  What was I thinking???  I am sort of kidding, she is cute to cuddle and all but it definitely made me realize that I don't want another baby for a few years. I really am enjoying my one on one with my little toddler, and I don't want to sound mean, but I just don't feel like interrupting that time with another baby that constantly needs to eat, sleep, and poop.  Give it a few years and I am sure baby fever will be in full swing, but just not right now.


On a side note, please keep an eye this week for my first guest post ever!!! It will be on the ever fabulous blog Straight Stitches, written by Heather.  She has some amazing projects on there and is so down to earth.  I just love the friendships that come about in the blogging world!  I am not sure what day it will be on there this week, so keep a lookout for it on her blog.  I will give you just a little tease of what it's about-

that's just a little taste!



I also will be having a few projects coming up this week that I am super stoked about.  They are halloween/ fall themed and I can't wait to see the finished product.

I ran across this kick-ass thrift store (although it does sort of smell in there)  here and found a wreath that I am going to re-do.  Why you ask, well let me tell you why.  Here in my one horse town where I live, there is no such thing as Jo Ann's, Wal Mart, or craft stores in general.  So instead of going to the store and buying a foam wreath, I have to search out the thrift store, I am not really complaining, but I would prefer to go to Jo Ann's instead of just hoping there is something worth buying there to re-do, that's all.

I also found a way to use up all of my saved formula cans, I knew they would come in handy!!! Even better, it is a Halloween decoration, and involves spray paint!  I love myself a can of spray paint.

Have a great Labor Day everyone, and enjoy these cute pics of my "toddler".

Daddy's boots

Bath Time

Family time

Pouting

sitting in her toy box reading! 
seriously cute!!

Don't Judge Me-

     

If you head on over to craftideas.info, you will find tons of awesome autumn projects. I think this would look stunning on a front door, especially if you added some spray paint in the glorious shades of fall.

Summer is not my favorite season of the year, like most people. I love love love fall and winter. The smell of a soup on the stove all day, or a roast in the oven.  I love bundling up in adorable sweaters and jeans, and of course kick ass boots.  I love the smell, and sight of the fall colors in abundance throughout the mountains.

I am especially excited for all the fall and winter holidays this year, seeing as how my daughter is 1 and will understand a little bit more about what is going on when I dress her in goofy costumes, or when we put the Christmas tree up, and she gets to open her presents.

So don't judge me when I say that I can' wait for the leaves to change colors, and eventually fall off tree, soon to be covered by lots and lots of white fluffy snow.

The following projects from marthastewart.com are also why I can't wait for summer to be gone.



Gorgeous above a dining room table!



  
I want a pumpkin family on my front deck.


 This looks like a warm, fun costume for a family!


Look at the sheep! How darling are they??


My bookshelf centerpiece for fall!

Enjoy!


I am jumping back into the blog hop world once again. This time it is Welcome Wednesday over at Take it from Me





   

I hope you will stop over and meet lots of great bloggers.

The Best Year of my Life

Happy Birthday to my Princess Olivia who is 1 yr old today!!!!

A Letter to my beautiful daughter~~~

To my dearest Princess Olivia--

Words cannot even describe my love for you. From the moment I knew I was going to have a baby, I loved you more than anything or anyone in the world.

Over the past year, I have watched you grow from a cuddly little baby to a walking independent toddler with a mind of her own. It is amazing to watch you explore the world, whether it be at a park, the grocery store or in our very home.

I feel so privileged to have been able to stay at home with you for the last year and watch you take your first belly roll, first words, and first steps. I will never forget those memories for the rest of my life, nor will I forget the countless hours spent cuddling with you in bed, on the couch, or in the bath.

While I am very sad today that a whole year has passed already, and I feel that it has passed way to fast, I am also very proud, and happy to watch you grow up happy, and healthy. Your smile is contagious, as is your laugh also. I can't help but to crack a smile, or even let a little giggle slip when you are being mischievous and throwing your banana on the floor in protest, or when you pull EVERY single book off of the bookshelf just to see how I will react.

I look forward to every year that I get to stay on this earth and be "Olivia's Mommy". While I must admit that I can wait to see what the future holds for you, I also am excited to see where you will go on life, because I know that you will go far, and be happy, successful, and always very very, very loved.

Love forever,

Your Mommy

xoxoxoxoxoxo

Birthday to do list among other things on my mind

My darling Olivia (who is not so darling at the moment due to a persistant tooth trying to poke through) is going to be 1 yr old on Aug. 11th. I am trying my best to make it an awesome birthday party on limited funds so, I have gone searching in blogland and here is what I have found:



great idea! My hubby has a ton of butcher paper since he runs a meat dept!


How darling is this???



Love these invitations, so beautifully homemade and organic looking




what great decor is this!

All of these fantastic party ideas came from the wonderful, talented Cottage Mama

I am doing a sesame street theme while still keeping the party cute and girly. I am doing fabric invites that are all going to be different from very cute $0.99 fat quarters from Joann's and I am hanging a sign that is going to say

This birthday party was brought to you by the number 1 and the letter's O-L-I-V-I-A

Just like on sesame street!

I am going to order a cupcake tray with one small cake on top for the bday girl, and I am in the process of making her a birthday dress.

I also love these ideas for birthdays:



I love this, and I knew those empty formula can would come in handy.

These ones are made by Sumo over at Sumo's Sweet Stuff but it originated at Fireflies and Jellybeans.



How awesome are these bday favors, pretty cheap too with a dollar store trip and a little DIY.

For more bday awesomeness, check out The Girl Creative's link up

Now, I must say that I am feeling inspired and ready to work!!!

But alas, I have some family news that I am quite excited about and just have to share. After a recent family vacay back home, the Hubba Wubba and I have decided that we HAVE to move closer to our families. I am so homesick, and I want nothing more than to be able to raise our daughter close to her 3 sets of grandparents!

So instead of living a whopping 10 hours away from our family we will soon be uprooting our family about 2 hours away from our parents. I must say that I am quite excited about this which is making all the more homesick and ready to just pack up and go. I can't wait to be able to have weekend visits with our family, and holidays together, and no more teary good byes because we can see them whenever we have a few spare hours in the day :)

Don't get me wrong, I love where we live but family is truly the most important thing to us and what's the point of living that far away from the thing that means the most to you if you don't have too??

Wish us luck, because we are about to write a whole new chapter in our lives!!!

by the way, I am open to birthday party ideas, and links if you know of any good ones.

Thanks!!

ADDICTED TO SEWING!

Okay, so my mom gave me her sewing machine last week and I am in love!!! I am currently attempting (I use that word loosely) to make Olivia a dress from a pattern but somehow messed up with my amount of material for the bottom portion so now I am winging it with some fat quarters that were $0.99 at JoAnns the other day. I hope it turns out!

I also got a bunch of patterns that were typically $16 for (brace yourself) $0.99! One of them makes an adorable apron which I bought super cute material for (on sale of course) and laptop carrier pattern, stuffed animal pattern, window treatment pattern, and yoga pants pattern! I am going to be a sewing fool.

The bottom of my Jo Ann's receipt says that I spent $23 and saved $73!!!!!! Now if any of you would like to step up and be my mentor so I don't royally screw this up and lose lots of money in the process- that would be fantastic! (I am sort of kidding about that last part.)



Anyhow.... I will post pics when I charge my camera and get around to it sometime tomorrow.

Baby on the move!

Yep, my little 10 month old Olivia is on the move- she is walking!!! I seriously can not keep up with her. She is cruising all over the place, making one mess after another. This is definitely a fun, but tiring age! I am trying all sorts of new activities with her, trying to expose her to new things- but she just doesn't seem to be interested unless it goes in her mouth, which I must say is not the best place for sidewalk chalk. Needless to say, I think I was jumping the gun a little bit on that one.

I am stuck in limbo and I hate it, the hubba wubba applied for a job back home that would move him up in the company and give him a pay raise. I am hesitant to admit that I am now sure if that's what I want to do. I would love to be near my family, but I feel like it has taken me until just now (1 1/2 yrs since we moved to our current town) to finally have a social life, friends, obligations, etc., etc. I am not so sure I want to start all over again, I am not friends with the same people I used to be friends with back home, so if we moved back, I would be starting from square 1 all over again. I also love where we live now, it is so cheap to live here, it's beautiful here with mountains and rivers everywhere, there is virtually no crime and an incredible school dept here.




Theses are pictures I took of the town where I live- It is so breath taking-ly gorgeous here!

I really just want to know what I need to plan for, I hate the "not knowing", and the hubba wubba still has not heard anything on the job since he applied- the job has been closed for application for over a week now! I am losing my mind stressing over this.


On a side note, I scored at the garage sales this week-

• 2 pairs of Gap jeans for $4
• huge play dough set with play dough toys $5
• alphabet and number magnets $1
• interactive play mat $1
• steam carpet cleaner $20
• 2 pairs of Jeans for Olivia .50 cents
• awesome cat scratcher $2
• 2 summer outfits for Olivia $2
• set of thank you cards $1

total = $36.50

getting cool used new stuff = priceless!


Well that's all for now because I really need to get cleaning because I have cousins coming into town tomorrow, I will be back later though to post a recipe for my delicious whole wheat banana pancakes with strawberry topping! I just made them this morning and the hubba wubba even like them which says a lot because he hates it when I want pancakes for breakfast!

Fun summer projects for babies and young toddlers

So... a lot of these ideas are not just for summer time. They are however more suited for a 1 yr old give or take a few months, seeing as how my daughter is turning 10 mo old, I really want to open her eyes up to everything wonderful out there in this world starting now. I found the majority of these ideas at ourbabyoflove.com It is a wonderful blog full of great ideas for babies.

Sensory Play

• a bucket of water and a paintbrush (how perfect is that for a baby in the summer)
• non toxic finger paint on butcher paper
• sandplay
• musical instruments
• homemade play dough or jello
• reading books with vibrant pictures or interactive books
• filling and dumping containers full of blocks, noodles, or crackers
• singing nursery rhymes or even make up your own song about your baby

Anything that enhances and entices a baby's hearing, smelling, tasting, feeling, and seeing is going to be good and fun for them.

Baby Cuddles, Baby Tantrums, and Dirty Diapers

Well hello- It has been almost a week since I have posted anything so I am sorry for being absent. It has just been super busy around here, I am on a Relay for Life team and we are cracking down to finish raising enough money to meet our goal, and thankfully we are almost there!


Olivia has changed so much in the last few weeks, she is attempting to walk, talk, and basically get into everything that she is not supposed too. She has also recently been the biggest cuddlebug ever which just melts my heart that she would much rather cuddle with me than play with giant mess of toys laying on the floor. I know every Mom can relate to that feeling- the one that lets you know that you are their special person, the one who will make everything better, the one that will love them no matter what, the one that they can go to for anything. It is an amazing feeling and while I cry everytime I have to pack away the clothes that don't fit her anymore, I also look forward to having an amazing relationship with my daughter as she grows older.


On the other hand, she is learning to protest which is sooooo frustrating, but I must admit it's also a tad cute when she stomps her feet or throws her food. It takes everything in me to not laugh at her because I don't want to encourage her bad behavior but it is absolutely hilarious that this tiny little 10 month old can have such a giant attitude chock full of sassy-ness.


Weight Watchers is going great, 2 weeks into it and almost 6 lbs down- and that was even after being bad during Memorial Day weekend. My new firepit was just begging me to make not one, but three smores!


Now onto the dirty diapers, I really want to switch over to cloth diapers and I know I sound like a broken record because I think I have asked this same thing before but I don't even know where to start. There are so many different options, prices, sizes, etc. and I would love to hear from someone who started using cloth diapers when their children were around 1 yr old. My research into the matter has led me to believe that there is a huge difference in buying cloth for a newborn as compared to an almost toddler. So, please comment if you have any information on CD.

I like change

I have always seen change as a good thing, which you would be able to tell if you saw how often I rotated my toenail and hair colors. Well, not so much anymore since I am busy chasing around a mischievous 9 month old but back in the day, my hair was pretty freaking awesome. I am thinking of going super blonde this time but I am undecided, but that is not the reason I am on the subject of change. (sorry I got sidetracked)

The hubba wubba is applying for a better position within the company he works for and it would be located right where we came from, the place we grew up and call home, the place that houses our daughter's 3 sets of grandparents, the place that we met and fell in love, the place we love to camp, hunt, and fish- so on and so forth, I think you get the point. It would be a pay raise, and I could go back to the college that I love so much and finally finish my degree. So, I am seriously hoping he gets this job so I can finally have some family and babysitters (aka- the grandparents). I like change, and I think this would be a good change so keep your fingers crossed!!!!

Olivia is also changing so much, she almost (gasp!!) 10 months old and is starting to stand on her own and trying to walk. Lately she points at everything she wants and tries to say "kitty cat", "cheese", and mama and dada. I can't believe she is almost 1 yr old, time flies when they are so young. There are a few instances that typically occur in life that remind me that no matter how many times someone tells you, you will never understand until you are there. This is one of those instances, my parent's always used to tell me how it seemed like just yesterday that they were bringing me home from the hospital- I used to blow them off like "whatever, I am ___yrs old, I am almost an adult."


Now, I know what they mean. I look back and it feels like yesterday that I was just making mud pies, or it was just yesterday that I got a car, or it was just yesterday that I graduated highschool even though I'm pretty sure it was light yrs ago. I am doing my best to document every moment of it I can and to never forget her childhood, and yes I will tell her on every single birthday that it feels like just yesterday I held her in my arms and hugged, kissed, and smelled every crevice of her little newborn body. She will understand someday when it's her turn, but until then she will just tell me "whatever".


Tomorrow is weigh in time at weight watchers and I am a little nervous although I think I have been doing good. I must give a big shout out to the hubba wubba for his cooperation with my newly adapted eating and drinking habits, he has been so supportive and has been cooking so healthy (yes, he cook and I don't). Dear Hubba wubba, you must be warned that I will be mad if you lose more weight than I do in the process- so keep on snacking at work and stop pretending like you are trying to eat healthy like me- you have been warned!!!
I will update tomorrow if my efforts on Weight Watchers have been rewarded.

To Do list a mile long

I have a to do list a mile long and between the housework and two babies I have no clue how i am going to get it done. I finally bought the remainder of our vegetable plants so I need to plant those and weed the garden. I also need to mow by the garden and move the picnic table, the hubba wubba is camping and I was hoping to surprise him and have it all done but instead I am blogging (damn you blogger for being so addictive).

I started weight watchers Tuesday night and so far I am doing good, I have been eating a ton of fruits and vegetables since they are 0 points and I feel like my energy has skyrocketed which is good because I was sorta in a slump. But I must admit the challenge will start tonight when the hubba wubba returns because he is a horrible influence, I am quite positive he puts a stick of butter on everything he cooks, then again that would explain why his cooking is delicious. So, I am really going to need to stand my ground and just ignore his offer to cook me shrimp scampi, I will also have to ignore his offer to make me a cocktail or fetch me a beer which is going to be really really hard!

On another note my daughter thinks she is a dog, and I have no idea where she learned this because even my dog does not think she is a dog. Olivia has been carrying toys around in her mouth while she crawls and walks around, someone please tell me it is just a phase, because while it is extremely adorable and cute, i don't want her to think she is a dog. I am worried about this you see because she has developed a taste for dog food and dog toys also, if I put everything up then I forget about the dog needing to eat and if I leave it down, the baby that thinks she's a dog will get into it.

My very first ever attempt at being a crafty DIY will take place soon, I have a bedside table that I am going to fix up so I will post pictures of that and of my garden once everything is done. I also have plans to turn a picture frame into an earring holder and when I find the blog that I got the idea from I will give credit where it's due. I am also really wanting to sew Olivia a dress for her first birthday, I have fallen in love with Amy Butler fabrics but I am having a hard time picking a semi-easy dress pattern, so if you have any ideas- you know where to leave them.