Hoo Are You!

Im participating in Night Owl Crafting's Hoooo Are You link up...its a super fun way to get to know other bloggers and to get to answer some questions about yourself that you may have never been asked!

1. Do you type on a keyboard the correct way or do you peck like a cute little chick?

I sort of do a combo. Im a correct typer, who occasionally hunts and pecks...my husband describes me as a hoverer. Apparently I hover over the keyboard instead of putting my fingers on the right keys.

2. Typically how long does it take you to get ready in the morning?

Before Grayson Boy, 45 minutes. Now, it depends on how much time he gives me...usually 15-20 minutes. Thats usually enough time for a shower and to find some clothes, Ive given up on the blow dryer, straightening iron, and make up.  The bean thinks his Mommy is gorge with caveman hair and dark circles.

3. Do you prefer lip gloss or lipstick?

Lip gloss, if I try lipstick I always end up with it on my teeth. Besides, lip gloss tastes way better!

4. Do you take clothes to the dry cleaner or wash them yourself even if they say dry clean only?

I dont buy things that are dry clean only, because Im way too lazy and cheap to take them to the dry cleaner. If something slips by I usually take it to my Mom and she uses that dryell kit in her fancy spaceship washing machine :)

5. Do you prefer Wal Mart or Target.

Target....why is it I cant get out of that store without spending $100? I think they pump something into the air in there that makes you go shopping happy.

Name Art and A Cheater Trick

Yesterday I had a kick ass Mommy day. I baked cookies (from SCRATCH, which is a HUGGE deal in this house), I did laundry, I cleaned out/organized the buffet in the pantry, I made lunch and dinner, and I snuck in a craft project.  All while my hubs was outside getting some work done around the yard to get ready for winter, meaning I had the baby.

Where the motivation came from I do not know, but I'm not going to fight it.

The craft project I tackled was one I have been meaning to do for awhile now, the wooden letters I bought to spell out Grayson's name above his crib.  Right now his crib is right in front of the mantle, and above that is a 5 foot by 5 foot blank yellow wall- of concrete. So its nearly impossible to hang anything there, because you have to literally drill into solid rock.  But oh, lovelies, I am a determined Mommy.

Enter super industrial strength Velcro.

I bought some of this stuff:

You just stick it to the back of the object and the wall and it will hang there perfectly.

Now, onto the letters. I bought the 5 inch wooden letters from JoAnn's (with coupons of course!), a pack of foam brushes and paint that coordinated with the bedding.

I started by painting all of the letters with a few coats of foliage green paint.  Then I realized I can paint two things, dots and stripes.  The dots were easy, they were just the end of different paint brushes.  The stripes were even easier- because I have a cheater trick, scotch tape.

After the letter is painted, break out the scotch tape and cover the letter, leaving open spaces in between. Make sure that they appear even, and rub over the tape edges really well so that no paint leaks under and then just paint away.  You can vary the width, or use something like a popcicle stick as a guide to keep them uniform. Once dry, peel off the tape and you have perfect stripes!

Here's the finished product:

Now- we just have to get them stuck to the wall and we'll be set!



Cheddar Bacon Biscuits = Amazing!

Who doesn't love the Cheddar Bay Biscuits from Red Lobster?

I love them, but I'm not a big fan of anything else that the restaurant serves. I don't do fish...it smells.

So when the hubs gets to go there I typically get a Caesar salad and lots of biscuits. I started thinking about how I could do them at home, and started searching for some recipes.

Thank you Rachel Ray for coming through in a pinch with a super simple recipe that I think is even BETTER than the ones at Red Lobster. Why you may ask? Because these ones have the added goodness of bacon. Mmmm.

Super easy. Start with a bag of Bisquick Complete Biscuit Mix.

After dumping that into a mixing bowl start cooking up 3-4 slices of bacon in a frying pan.  Once done to your liking, remove and let cool.  Pour a tablespoon or so of the pan drippings into the dry biscuit mix.  Chop up the bacon and add it to the mix.  Now grab the cheddar cheese and mix in about 1/2 cup of the finely shredded stuff. Add the needed 1/2 cup of water and mix to combine.  Drop on the baking sheet and bake according to package directions (450*F for 8-11 minutes).

They're beautiful and delish and I can make them at home with anything other than fish. Score!

Happy Halloween!!

Its Grayson's first holiday- so of course we tortured him a bit.

Carving his pumpkin with Daddy

 

He liked standing in the pumpkin...he was in there for about 20 minutes before he got sick of it.

 

Getting ready to go Trick or Treating with our little monster

 

 

 

 

Hope everyone got lots of candy- Grayson came home with a container of formula, some puffs, and some chocolate that he has decided to share with Mommy and Daddy.

 

Happy Halloween Everyone!

One Year

One year married.

Three hundred and sixty five days of being married to my best friend.
We've been together nearly 8 years now, and I still get butterflies when he walks in a room.

I feel like the luckiest girl in the world to be married to such a wonderful guy, and I couldn't think of a better Daddy for our little man (and the pups!).

There have been countless adventures and I never want them to end.
Im so happy we chose to spend our lives together and I can't wait to see where our lives take us next, now as a family of five.

Love you husband- here's to a million more anniversaries, because there is no way Im letting you go anywhere.

Remember, this is for-ev-er.

Anniversary Gift

Tomorrow we will have been married for one year.

YAY FOR  SURVIVING!!

But seriously, its amazing how fast a year can go.

We agreed to stick with the traditional wedding anniversary themes, and the first one is paper.  Since tickets to somewhere fantastic like Mexico were not in the budget, Grayson Boy needs to eat and have some clean diapers after all...I started thinking about what I could make.

The hubs has been saying he wants to start a gallery wall in our front entry way, so I thought that might be a good place to start. 

I saw similar projects like this out there, but I cant find them to link back and give credit. (If this was your idea, let me know and Ill link you up!)

This is the finished product:

Super easy and super cheap.  I bought a frame from Ikea ($9.99), and printed maps from Google Maps of the places we met, the Church where we got married, and our current address.

Then using Word I made the We Met, We Wed and We Love labels. 

After printing I made a heart template, and traced it out on the maps.  Then I made a slightly bigger one to cut out a backing to make the maps stand out a bit.

A little rubber cement later and voila! A super cute custom piece of art.

Oh and the best part...this guy helping me out the whole time:

LOVE that kid. (Even if he does make it really hard to cut out hearts and glue things together)

Linking up to: The Sunday Showcase Party

Get Your Craft On Tuesday @ Todays Creative Blog

Fall Failure

I had plans, lovelies. 

 I wanted to be that Mommy who decorated for every holiday and came up with all of these traditions for Grayson Boy. 

So far, I have a pumpkin (uncarved, that's our Saturday Morning task) on my porch, three fake fall-ish colored flowers on the steps (I cant keep a real plant alive to save my soul) and two scare crows on either side of the steps to the porch.

Inside I have fall leaf place mats, and a haunted house candle holder on my kitchen table.

That's all.

Epic decorating failure.

Maybe this weekend when the hubs is home to help with the Bean Ill break out some of our other stuff, but its all the way on the third floor...so it's a bit unlikely.

Here's hoping I get my act together before Thanksgiving, cause we respect the Turkey in this house.

We did take Grayson to his first visit to the pumpkin patch, so I guess I'm not failing on the tradition part.  Its give and take with a newborn and right now sleep > digging out decorations!

We took our first trip to Sorgel's Orchard when Aunt Christine and Uncle Zach came to visit.

The 30 pound pumpkin Daddy picked out...he wanted one big enough to put Grayson inside.

"Ma! Quit with the pictures! Im trying to enjoy my nap on the hayride!"

There were so many fun things for kids to do there, I can't wait till he's bigger next year and is hopefully awake for at least part of the outing...cause he was def passed out the whole time we were there this year!