Vday Gifts

I have started on a few little gifts for vday. It's only the beginning, but, so far everything has turned out pretty cute!

                                                                    Post it Note Holders

                                                  decorative clothespin magnets for the fridge...

                                                

Dr. Isabella

At school today Isabella's teachers read a story about a little doctor. Each child made a precious mini Dr. hat and Dr. kit to bring home, and she has been carrying it around allllll day long. She brought it to dinner, she brought it to the bathroom while she took a bath and she is now currently snuggled up in bed....with her Dr. kit.  She has had a blast taking care of all of her "patients," which include me, nana, daddy, Jenna, and of course all of her baby dolls. I must say, after a quick check of the heart and a bandaid, my headache is much better! :)

Home Sweet Home

As many of you already know.....I am obsessed with decorating! Sooooo, I have been working on a few projects for our humble abode!! I hope you like them!

                                                     Burlap wreath for the front door

               I made the clothespin line to hang pictures then made decorative clothespins to hang the pics

                         I LOVE my "Poole" letters! They add a vintage feel to the room! Love!

9 Months!

Today after dropping Isabella off at school, Jenna and I headed over to the pediatricians office for her 9 month well check appointment! The doc said my baby girl is in perfect health! ( of course ;) ) She is meeting all of her 9 month old expectations which include: clapping, waving, crawling, cruising along furniture, perfecting her pincher's for self feeding. Her little vocabulary is starting to grow as well, she says mama, dada, doggy and hi!  Her overall stats at 9 months were :
Weight- 20 lbs ( 75 %)
Height- 28 1/2 inches ( 90 %)
 I can't believe she is going to be 1 in less than 3 months!!!!

Tasty Delight

A couple of weeks ago my mom and I came across these fabulous little molds called "jewel pop molds," at HomeGoods. Basically they are mini Popsicle molds in cute little ring shapes that go on your finger, kinda like ring pop lollipops. Yesterday I decided to give them a try....so I filled them with strawberry yogurt and popped them in the freezer! Tonight at the end of dinner I told the girls I had a little treat for them and whipped out the little jewel pops. They both LOVED them!! Jenna is teething right now, so I think the coldness of the frozen yogurt offered some relief....who knew those little jewel pops had a dual purpose!?! :)
Next time I am going to fill the bottom with sprinkles and then fill them with ice cream! Yum!

The packaging

The mold

The yogurt

                                                     The result: two very delighted little girls! :)

  

Scrub a dub dub...

                                 I have to admit, bathtime is one of my favorite times of the day! Here's why:

                           How can you not smile looking at those buns!! :)

The Fish.

Last night I heard a little knock on my front door....and much to my surprise, my cousin Ashley was awaiting on the other side. I opened the door and in she walked with a "gift" for Isabella. Isabella was already in bed so Ashley decided to leave the gift with me so that when Isabella woke up in the morning she would be totally surprised, and what a surprise indeed. The big gift was a .......... a FISH! Ashley wanted to get Isabella a pet, just for her, so that she could learn how to care for others ( aka be nicer to her baby sister). lol. Isabella woke up this morning and could not believe her eyes! The next step was naming the little guy, naturally she wanted to name him Isabella however I informed her it was a boy. After many very odd, very amusing names... she settled on George.(after curious george) George is doing very well in his new home and enjoys his lovely fish bowl decked out with with graphic design and teeny tiny rocks. George, I must say, is very lucky to have Isabella as a mommy. :)

                                                                  George

Imaginative Play

I LOVE watching my girls play. Jenna crawls all over the house picking things up here and there, however Isabella has a complete task in mind when it comes to playing.....it may be dressing up as a princess,or lining up her princesses one by one. Regardless what the mission at hand may be,there is always a lot of imagination involved. Jenna loves to watch Isabella play and follows her around the house like a little love sick puppy....it is too cute for words. I encourage play time all day every day, after all, there is not better way to express oneself than through imaginative play.



 Pretty as a princess...

                                                       
                                                        Time for tea.....



                                              Mirror mirror on the wall, my mommy loves me and Jenna most of all.

                                      Can you spot the odd man out? :)

 At the end of the day all of that play can be exhausting......but at least they have each other to lean on.

Life.

My life, to me, is perfect. I have a wonderful family, a wonderful husband and two beautiful happy and healthy little girls.  There is nothing I would change about my life. I could wish for more money, more Louis Vuitton, more time to relax  but, in the scheme of things.... life is good. I have experienced many times both firsthand and through dear friends that life can change in the blink of an eye. I whole heartidly believe that everything happens for a reason and that God will never give us more than we can hadle. I thank my lucky stars for the life I live today.  Life is challenging. Nobody ever said life is easy. I fear the day my daughters face their first bullies or fail. Life is about being strong. Life is confusing. Why do bad things happen to good people? Why do good people go un-noticed? Why do bad people get noticed the most? Life is about  laughter, love and family. Thankfully I have all three. My husband, my ,best friend, afer almost 5 years of marriage ( next month) and 8 years of togetherness, still makes me laugh... a lot. He is my witness to life, as I am to his.  My family is my heart. My mom is my rock. I could not live without my mom, She is the most remarkable woman I have ever met in my life. She is one of those people that eveyone loves, it is impossible not to. She is the most selfless, couragous, most kind-hearted woman I have ever had the privelage to know, let alone call my mother. My children are my life. They make me happier than I ever knew possible. They may fustrate me or challenge my patience, but without them, without my family.....my life would be far from perfect.

Ballet and Legos

We have been quite busy the last couple of days. Yesterday Isabellas school was supposed to be closed in honor of MLK day, But it was not until late yesterday morning that I decided to check me email and discovered a "reminder note," from the room mom  reminding me that school was in fact open!So, rather than wasting the day away...we ventured off to Concord Mills to check out the new lego store! Isabella had a blast looking at all of the lego exhibits and playing at the childrens lego table! After the lego store we walked around the mall, rode the carousel and enjoyed some delicious cotton candy ice cream!!

Let the tower-building begin!

 She found the lego table and got right to work!





Today, was another day of excitement. It was Isabellas first day of her new combinaton tap/ballet class! She LOVES to dance!!!!

Tap Star!

Ballet Princess

Sunday Dinner

Sausage-Stuffed Manicotti

12 dried manicotti pasta

1 pound bulk italian sausage ( I substituted turkey sausage)

1 15- ounce carton ricotta cheese

1 cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese

2 teaspoons dried basil, crushed

3 cups marinara pasta sauce

1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook pasta according ot package, drain well, place pasta in a single layer on a sheet of greased foil.

2)In a large skillet,  cook sausage over medium heat until brown, drain off fat. In a medium bowl, combine ricotta cheese, and basil. Stir in cooked sausage. Fill pasta with sausage mixture. Arrange filled pasta in a rectangular baking dish. Pour marinara sauce over pasta. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.

3)Bake, covered for 20 minutes. Bake, uncovered about 10 minutes more or until mixture is heated through and cheese is melted.

Enjoy!



A glimpse...

As most of my friends and family already know....I am obsessed with holidays! So, true to form, I have  begun my Valentines Day crafts/projects. There are sseveral things on my Vday to do list, but so far I only have three completed. I finshed sewing Isabellas Vday skirt, made the girls big pink and red Vday bows and made special personalized laminated tags for the girls Vday treat bags. There is plenty more to come! :)

Snow.

United States

England

France 1

France 2

Let me start by saying I am not a fan of snow. It has followed me in every country I have been in during the last month and a half of  my life. It all started in England in December. We ventured off to admire the beaches of the North Sea ( we lefy Jenna with my MIL bc it was waaaay to cold for her). As we were standing on the beach of places the heavens decided to unleash a down pour of cold wet snow upon us. wonderful. Then came France. I have never been to France so I was very excited to see anyhting and everything tourist worthy, afterall, I only had two nights and one day to do so. From the minute we landed in Paris until the minute we left ....it snowed. Needless to say all that we hoped to see became quite difficukt whilst parading around Paris trying to keep our little girls warm and sheltered from the snow. lovely. Not only did it snow all day and night, but on our second night we had an experience that I will never forget. Now I can laugh about it. As we left the train station in our taxi, meant to deliver safely to our hotel, our cab driver pulled over half way through the drive and told us we had to exit the car because he felt his little car would not withstand the snowy path to our hotel, which was a mile down the road!! So.....hubby and I took one look at eachother and off we went. We plowed through the snow with our little girls, one in a stroller and one on daddys back. We had many laughs along the way.. one about Philps continous references to feeling like Mary and Joseph and another the fact that Isabella had not gone potty allllllll day while in the city, nor did she ask to go...until we were stuck on the side of the snowy street a mile down the road from our hotel. So, we found a bathroom and after taking off a million layers, there was relief. We then continued our mile walk to our hotel where we took advantage of room service and adult beverages. Like I said....I am not a fan of snow.

My Girls.

I created this blog to share my little quirks with whoever wants to read it. There are several things I will be sharing with you,  three in particular....  family,  crafting, and cooking.  Above is a picture of my girls....pumpkin and peanut. They are my life. My family is my life. I am excited to share my crafting and cooking craziness! I have plenty to share! Let the fun begin!!!

the beginning

this is the beginning of a beautiful thing.....my entry into the world of blogging.