Finally, a header I'm in love with!

Do you like the new layout? I think it's pretty awesome :)

When I first started blogging (a zillion years ago) I fell in love with all the mommy graphics in every one's blog headers. I have wanted one ever since, but couldn't find anything that fit my picky tastes my blog. I wanted one so bad that I even attempted making my own... what a disaster that was. You have to sketch up an image, then draw it with illustrator using only the pen tool and shapes. There was no way I was gonna be able to do that.

Then a fellow mommy-blogging friend of mine, Erin started designing layouts, headers, buttons, backgrounds, graphics - you name it, she can do it. I loved her work, and when I found out how reasonable her prices were I couldn't pass up the offer. She created exactly what I asked her for, and kept in touch with me through the whole process. It was such a pleasure working with Erin. I would recommend her to anyone looking for a bloggy face-lift :) If you're interested or just want to see her work, check out her blog:







If you haven't already noticed, I also got my own domain name, which I am pretty excited about!! I changed the blog title because (a) The Mommy Madness domain was already taken and (b) I wanted the blog to represent me more. Since it's about my life and activities of a young stay at home mom, I thought the new title was perfect.

So don't hold back, I want to know what you think of the new look/layout!

Wordless Wednesday

Pictures from the second batch of pumpkin spice cupcakes I made last week...


When I turned my back to put this in the oven....

These two little stinker's hopped onto the counter to 'stir' the rest of the batter!

Mhm I see them licking their little lips...

"Uh oh, Mommy caught us!"

Yumm the finished product!

Time to stuff our faces!!!

I need the weekend!

So, yesterday was my first blog in almost 10 days. & it was all. about. food. Three posts in one day, all pertaining to yummy, scrumptious, deliciously fattening food. Does that tell you anything?

I'm stressed. I cook, bake, and eat A LOT when I'm stressed.

It's this stupid house. It has me stressed beyond belief. We've been on the market for almost four months. We've had 3 'second' showings, and multiple people leaving feedback saying they're interested in the house but no offers. Not one.

A house the exact same floor plan as ours came on the market last week, priced less then what we're asking. Very frustrating.

Gavin came home from school yesterday with a bruise on his cheek. The teacher said another child 'hit him in the face with a magnetic wand.' On purpose. Because he wanted the toy Gavin was playing with. I hate bullies.

My poor baby. He had to go to the nurse and get an ice pack for his face. & now he is afraid of that child.

On a lighter note, Halloween is in a few days and we have a full weekend planned of fun activities. I'm looking forward to having fun with the kids and taking lots of pictures!

Thanks for letting me vent :)

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes w/ Honey Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

Is that not the most deeeeelicious cupcake you've ever heard of?
YES it is.

I found a new blog (well, new to me) with this amazing recipe on it. 

You know you want to try them.

I made 3 batches last week. Yes, THREE batches. They are hubb's new favorite and he is requesting I make some more tomorrow. They're that good. & so Holiday-ish.

I Love them & you will too :)

Slow-Cooker Roast with Gravy

Eye of round roast was buy one get one free at my local supermarket a few weeks ago, so we took advantage and stocked up :) Last week, I found a slow cooker recipe for the eye of round roast and adapted it to my family's tastes... It was the best roast I've ever made. The whole family raved about it and my Mom called me the next day wanting the recipe. It's especially great for the days you're out running errands and don't want to come home and have to cook dinner. Just throw it in the crock pot in the morning and its tender and delicious by dinner time!

1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 pkg Lipton onion soup mix
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 cups beef bouillon
1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
1 (2-3 lbs) eye of round roast

Combine first 5 ingredients in crock pot and mix well. Add the eye of round roast. Make sure the roast is covered in liquid. I use a 2.5 qt crock pot and everything fits perfectly and the roast stays covered in gravy. If you're using a bigger crock pot, you can add 1-2 more cups of bouillon to cover the roast. Then put the lid on the crock pot and cook over low heat for 8 hours.

I usually transfer the roast to a cutting board, and thicken the gravy with a little cornstarch/water mixture. Then shred the beef and put it back in the gravy. Serve over noodles or with mashed potatoes and enjoy!

Menu Plan Monday

Sunday: Stuffed Shells and Meatballs (frozen leftovers from last week)

Monday: Slow-Cooker Roast with Gravy
Tuesday: Lemon Chicken & Spinach Fettuccine Alfredo

Wednesday: Bratwurst and Sauerkraut (not sure about the sides yet)

Thursday: Velveeta Taco Bake

Friday: Gav's Fall Festival at school, we'll be eating there.

Saturday: Trick-or-Treating in the park, then probably coming home with pizza :)

I'm still alive!

Gosh what is with me lately? I'm such a SLACKER.

We have been busy.

Granny Mam came to visit us for a few days and taught me how to knit so that is currently taking up quite a bit of my free time.

Oh yeah and we seem to have a showing every day now.

I'm a busy Mommy but hopefully I will be posting more soon!

My Weekend

Okay, so this is a little late but we have been pretty busy around here. We had a good weekend though...

Auntie came over Friday night and made Halloween Gingerbread Houses with Gav. This is something they have made a tradition and Gavin looks forward to it every year.

Kenna just covered herself in frosting

Then Saturday, Gav had a birthday party to go to.... at a roller-skating rink! Gavin had never been roller skating before, and he was not very into it at first. But after we got him a walker he did great and had a blast!

He has decided that he wants his next birthday party to be at the roller-skating rink.

Gavin and the birthday boy!

 Sunday we had a play date at the park, went grocery shopping, and watched the Cowboys game :)

 

Somehow between all the madness this weekend, we also had three showings on the house. THREE! Activity is really picking up and that makes me extremely happy :) :)

How was your weekend?

Menu Plan Monday

Sunday: Spaghetti & Meatballs

Monday: Chicken Pesto & Asparagus

Tuesday:Chicken Fried Steak & Mashed Potatoes with Gravy

Wednesday: Vodka Pasta with Italian Sausage

Thursday: Grilled Flank Steak & Rice Pilaf

Friday: To be determined...

Saturday: Out

Friday Blog Hop

What am I gonna do with this girl?

After a hell-ish morning with the kids on Tuesday, I was thrilled when I looked at the clock and saw it was time for Gavin to head to school, and Kenna to lay down for her ONE nap of the day. {I'm a little bitter about the whole ONE nap a day thing.} I lay her in her crib, tuck her into her blanky and tell her night night. Then I walk out the door, quietly closing it behind me. For the next 10 minutes, I hear her screaming. This has become our usual nap routine. I think she is trying to get out of her one nap a day, but I'm just not going to let that happen yet. I mean, she's only 15 months old!!! So I usually let her cry it out and if after 20 minutes, she's still screaming, I go in and tuck her in again. We do this until she is finally peacefully sleeping in her crib.

Well she had other plans on Tuesday. After 10 minutes of crying, she goes silent. I am beginning to think she is drifting to sleep... nope. Not. Even. Close. I hear a loud CRASH, and I go running into her room to find her on the floor, crawling to her bedroom door, crying so hard that she is just completely silent, trying to catch her breath. That's when I realized... she just jumped out of her crib! I swoop her up off the floor, making sure that she still has both her arms and legs in tact, then put her to my shoulder and attempt to calm her down. She didn't get hurt at all, I think it just shocked/scared her. And me too.

I'm not exactly sure how she managed to jump out of her crib. Her bumpers were still in there and I'm thinking she used those as leverage and climbed over the side, then fell to the floor. But that's just a wild guess. Needless to say, I took the bumpers out of her crib that day and she has not jumped out since then. But I still get super nervous every time I put her in her crib because I'm so afraid she's going to fall out again! I'm not ready for her to have a toddler bed! She's not even ready for a toddler bed! Could you imagine how difficult it would be to get her to sleep in one of those??? Something that she could easily climb out of. Ahh gets me all flustered just thinking about it.

That's not all... yesterday while I was in the shower... Kenna took her diaper off and pooped on the floor. Also while I was in the shower.... Gavin stepped in it during a mad dash to the toilet to pee. When I got out of the shower... while cleaning Gavin's foot and the poop on the floor {still in my bath towel, I might add} I stepped in another turd she left on the other side of the bathroom.

It was a fabulous morning.

Pre-K

So as most of you know, my little man started Pre-K this year. He's had a lot of firsts in these short six weeks, and I'm sure we'll have many more before the year is over.

Some of his firsts include... Homework {aka "Shared Projects"} it's really just a little creative project for the parent and child to work on together, and we've had a lot of fun with it. He also had his first fundraiser, which he did quite well at {he convinced all of our family members to buy something from him}. The biggest first of all is obviously just the fact that he is away from us, interacting with other children and his teachers. Gavin has never been in daycare or pre school or anything remotely similar, so this has been a whole new world for him. But the most recent first he has had was his first ever school photo. He brought home the pictures last week. Take a look...

How freakin' adorable is he?? Gahh I almost died when I saw this.. so cute, and he is SUCH a big boy now! He makes Mommy very proud :)

This is what we call his hancock smile. If you've seen the movie Hancock, you know what I'm talking about. This is Gavin's on demand smile. But nonetheless, it's still as adorable as ever and you can see those sweet little dimples! I have such a handsome boy.

A more difficult task.

This is a deeper & longer post than usual. It was a task on my 101 in 1001 list, and I completed it. I am proud, and sharing it with you.

My parents divorced when I was a year old. Growing up, I did not see my father much because he was in and out of jail my entire life.

He is a loving, caring, kind man with a huge heart but he has made some very bad decisions in his life, and continues to do so to this day. He is currently sitting in a jail cell.

My dad has broken my heart my whole life. Every time I got the phone call from my grandma, saying he was in jail again, my heart shattered. And every time he got out, he would tell me the same things... 'He's going to turn his life around, and make better decisions. If not for himself, then for me.. He did not want to see me hurting anymore.' I have yet to see him make any effort to change.

He and I have been communicating through mail on a regular basis. He writes me telling me how he is reading the bible everyday, going to bible study, and putting his life in God's hands. This is something I heard every single time he was in jail before. Because I wanted him to stay in high spirits, I always just said 'I'm so proud of you, Dad. I think you're really going to turn your life around this time.'

Until about two months ago.

I finally had enough of hearing the same crap over and over and over again and never seeing any improvements from him. I have realized recently that it is not the same as it was when I was a child. I am an adult now. I have children, and a husband. I have my whole family to worry about, not just myself. Keeping in touch with my Dad could eventually hurt my children. I don't want them getting really close with him, only to find out he has been put back in jail and will be there for a while. I have lived that, and it is not fun. I look at it like this... If my father doesn't want to be a better man, he doesn't deserve to be a part of my children's lives.

This is the point where I realized I needed to tell him how I was really feeling. Not put a mask on and pretend like everything is okay like I've always done in the past. So that's what I did. I sat down and wrote him a long, emotional letter telling him exactly how I felt about him and the choices he has made. I told him that it's not just about me anymore, my children deserve better from their grandfather. & if he isn't willing to change, then I am willing to just walk away.

I've been there for him his whole life, with nothing but positive thoughts and encouragement. I am done pretending everything is okay. I want him to make some serious changes.

It has been two months of no response from him. I haven't gotten a single letter from him since I mailed out my last one. About a week ago, I decided I would send him a few pictures of the kids. I did not mention the long letter I sent him before, I just sent him a few pictures and told him I loved him.

I checked the mail yesterday, and had received a letter from him. It was short and sweet and didn't directly mention my letter to him, but I know he got it and read it because he mentioned some things indirectly. I hope I got through to him in this letter, but I guess only time will tell. Until then, I will continue to pray for him. At least I have expressed to him how I feel, and now all I can do is hope for the best.

Write Dad a letter, telling him how I feel.

Menu Plan Monday

Sunday: Pork Chops, Egg Noodles, & Glazed Carrots

Monday: Italian Baked Chicken & Garlic Angel hair Pasta with Broccoli

Tuesday: Meat Loaf, Mashed Potatoes with Gravy & Corn

Wednesday: Chicken Parmesan & Fettuccine Alfredo

Thursday: Burritos, Rice & homemade Guacamole <--YUM!

Friday: Pizza

Saturday: Slow Cooker Roast Beef

Award!! Award!!!

I got an award!!! This award comes from a very awesome mommy blogger that I admire and adore. I read her blog daily and always come away with a laugh! Thank you, Lori, for this award!! You can check out Lori's blog here... A Day In Motherhood.

This is just a fun way to meet other bloggers and get to know one another, by passing these fun bloggy awards to other bloggers that we like! There are some FUN rules in accepting this bloggy award.

1. Thank and link back to the person who gave you the award.

2. Share 7 things about yourself.

3. Pass the award along to 15 other bloggers who you recently discovered and think are fabulous. {I'm shortening this to 10}

4. Contact the bloggers you choose and let them know they won the award.

7 Things about myself:

1. I love to cook!

2. I am married to my high school sweetheart.

3. 500 years from now {or at least it seems that far away} when both of my children are in school all day, I want to do real estate!

4. Blogging is my therapy.

5. I hate leaving my kids with someone other than my husband. Even if it's my mom or MIL. I'm a freakin' worry-er okay???

6. I still get confused by twitter daily. But, I'm learning.

7. Frozen yogurt is my newest obsession!

10 Blogs that I think deserve this award:

1. Key Moments

2. Samantha's Day

3. Ramble Road {Ramblings}

4. A Happy, Lovely, & Simple Life

5. Ashley... Plus Three

6. Completley Eclipsed

7. The Winey Mommy

8. Mommy Musings

9. Little Pieces of the Reese's

10. It's a Wonderfully, Crazy Life

Now go show them some love! Pretttty pleeeeasee :)

Blog Hop Friday