What Is To Come?

It is hard to believe that 2010 is almost over and that we will soon be ringing in a new year. What does that mean for you? Another year of resolutions that are written with best of intentions and slowly forgotten by Feburary? Another year of trying to break bad habits only to hit Thanksgiving and realize all you have broken is a few fingernails along the way? I hope not. I hope that each one of you will make resolutions (very realistic ones) and work towards them. I am a firm believer that if you have goals, both big and small, you accomplish so much more. However, goals should never be unrealistic. Now I am not saying you shouldn't dream big and reach for the starts. You should. Just realize if you are unable to reach that particular goal it is fine. Look back and see the progress you have made towards that goal and be happy with that. Let that motivate you to keep trying. Also, don't let your goals for yourself get in the way of God's plan for you. Be willing to make adjustments when you feel like He is leading you in a different direction. He always knows best, so try your hardest to listen! I suggest not having too many resolutions. Remember, less is more! Also, I like having a few resolutions that are actually measurable (for example... save money, organize something, read x number of books...) I think it helps to be able to say "Yes, I really did that". You can't always do that with some goals (like find time for myself, eat less junk food, stick to a routine....). Overall I would say just have fun with it! Go back and read this post about making your resolutions list appealing. I used this method and it worked great for me! I am going to be posting my resolutions for 2011 on January 1st and I hope you all will do the same! I would love to check out your resolutions!

Before we stay up way past our bedtime, say happy new Year and kiss the one we love though, we must celebrate the birth of a really swell guy. You may know Him.... His name is Jesus!!!!! So, off you go to enjoy this very quickly passing holiday season! Just so you are aware, we set to close on our house in 12 days!!!!!! Ahhhhh!!!! The lady wants to possibly move that up if we can!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHH!!!!! THAT'S PRETTY EXCITING!!!! Sorry for the yelling. Anyhoo, that means we are 18 days away from our move!!!!!! So please excuse me if I am not pouring out the comment love these days. Just know that I am keeping up with all of you and can't wait to get back into the blogging routine *sigh* as soon as we get settled into the new house!!!! It is going to be great!!!!

Strawberry Lemonade Cake

I mentioned on my Facebook that I had some strawberry lemonade cupcakes to make for our small group and I had a few people interested in the recipe. So instead of messaging each person the recipe, I figured I would just share it here. Who knows, you may try this and love it too! We sure do! It is our second favorite cake around here (a close runner up behind my scratch made red velvet cake). Now I have to say, when I am baking for my sweet kiddos, I keep it healthy.... not so much for me and the hubster though. So, if you are looking for a healthy recipe... I am sorry, but this is not it. I hope you still give it a try though because it is super yummy!

Ingredients For Cake

• 1 strawberry cake mix ( I take the help from the store on this one)
• 1 packet of kool-aid lemonade
  
• 1 can of lemon pie filling (you won't be using the entire can)

Ingredients For Icing (I got this from a friend)

• 1 cup of Crisco (plain or butter flavor)
• 1 cup of butter (2 sticks)
• 1 bag of powdered sugar (not an exact measurement because you will add a little at a time but it is usually about half of a 2 pound bag... so about a pound of it.)
  
• Vanilla extract (to taste... usually not much at all)
• 1 packet of strawberry lemonade kool-aid (you only need to use a little less than half of it)
  

Instructions For Icing

• Let butter set out and get to room temperature.
• Cream together the butter and Crisco
• Slowly add in the powdered sugar a little at a time
• After adding a little bit of sugar add in half, or a little less than half, of the strawberry lemonade kool-aid packet
• Add more sugar until it gets to a firm consistency.
• Store in the fridge
  

*If you are not into making it yourself you can just get 2 containers of butter cream icing and add the strawberry lemonade kool-aid to that (still only use half the packet, or a little less)


Instructions For Cake

• Read the back of your cake mix box. Pre-heat the oven and prep your pans as directed.
  
• Mix the cake batter as directed. Add the packet of lemonade kool-aid to the batter.
  
• Pour batter into your pans and bake as directed. I usually under bake from what the package suggests by 2 minutes and test each cake to see if they are done. No one likes an over cooked, dry cake.
• Let cakes cool completely before assembling and icing your cake.
  
• Once cool, spread a layer of pie filling on one of the cakes. Now stack the other cake on top of that one.
  
• Ice your cake.
  
• Cut yourself a slice and enjoy!

It is super easy to make these into cupcakes as well. I like this recipe both ways! Enjoy!

Family Tradition

You were expecting Hank Williams Jr., weren't you? Well sorry to disappoint you but this seriously is about one of our family traditions.... so please continue....

Okay, it was a family tradition. All year long we fill up our jar with pocket change. Then, we cash it in to buy our Christmas tree. For the past three years Charlie and I have taken Lula Mae to the local Christmas tree farm to pick out a tree. It is so fun! They have some animals, a fire to roast marshmallows over, hot chocolate and a little ornament shop. We pick ornaments out and write the year on the back of them. This year was the first year Lula Mae got to pick her own ornament. All the pretty little ornaments and what did she pick? A cow. Not a cute cartoonish cow, oh no, a big fat realistic cow... with utters. Yep, a big fat cow. That's my girl. She loves animals. Then she helped me pick Jayce's first ornament, a little bell that says "Babies 1st Christmas" with a snowman on top.

So then we went to look at the trees. We always go back to the "clearance" trees. You know, the ones they hide way in the back because they are cheaper. They are smaller and sometimes have a few gaps in the limbs and such, but that is fine with us. Then it happened.... we saw the price.

WHAT????

You are kidding????

That is almost double what we paid last year... and this one is SMALLER!!!!

And this is when our new tradition was born.

From now on we will be visiting the lovely little tree farm, petting the cute animals, roasting marshmallows, sipping the hot chocolate and letting the kids pick an ornament. Then we will drive 2 miles down the road to Food Lion and get a tree for $29.99.

I'm totally okay with that. Traditions sometimes need to be tweaked, but they are still special. I hope you are all starting to enjoy all those little family traditions of your own!

Monday Mugs

It is Monday, but it feels a whole lot more like Wednesday around here. Poor Daddy has been working, working, working and hasn't had a day off in a while. So this weekend felt nothing like a weekend, and today feels nothing like a Monday (which perhaps isn't a terrible thing). Only because I love Heather from Oswald Cuties am I linking up today for Monday Mugs. It is one of my least favorite themes, but I will run with it. If nothing else you will all get a good laugh, right? This weeks theme is....

Self Portrait


I tend to photograph terribly... because I make crazy faces...

Like this... my excited face....

I also have a habit of making it EXTREMELY obvious that my left ear is noticeably bigger than my right but wearing my hair up ...

If that isn't the case I somehow distort my body and make myself look 4 times wider than I really am....


Or I smile all crazy and show my horribly yellow teeth to the world...


Then, of course, I take pictures like this where you can see up my nose.... because we all know how attractive that is....

A lot of the time I get caught mid sentence and look like a goof.....

yeah, that happens a lot.... oh, and might I add that my hubby changed THIS to my profile picture on Facebook... if you feel the need to leave him some hate mail comments, I totally understand.

What happens when you get an awesome photographer for your bridal portraits????

You get a picture that looks beautiful, but nothing like you really.

And there you have it. My self portraits. I hope all you folks who wanted to see pictures of me feel fulfilled now (insert sarcasm and laughter here). I am totally ok with the fact that I am anything but photogenic. Happy Monday bloggy buddies! Have a great week!

7 Months And Counting!

Someone is growing up way too fast. My handsome little guy is 7 months old today. Why does 7 months sound so much older than 6 months? For me, I think it is the fact that he is closer to the one year mark than the newborn phase. Jayce is such a cuddle bug and I am soaking it all in. Lula Mae was so not a cuddly baby so I am excited to have a snuggle buddy! So, what is up with Jayce these days?

• Still no teeth, but it looks like his bottom ones are about to make their appearance
• He can't crawl yet, but he can roll and scoot anywhere he wants to go. He is going to be crawling before we know it!
  
• He has no interest in eating food yet. I try cereal and applesauce every now and then but he just could not care less. That's just fine though, he is growing beautifully (16 pounds roughly) and drinks his bottles just fine.
  
• He loves to laugh and play with his big sister. He is also very in love with his Daddy and playing rough. He is such a boy!
  
• We can already see that this little man has a BIG temper. When you take something away from him or he doesn't get exactly what he wants.... look out. He needs to have a chat with Lula Mae and see how well that attitude works in this house.
  
• He is starting to do much, much better in the car! I am not dreading the drive to Orlando quite as much as I was.
  
• He is quite the talker! He loves to babble and sing which it one of the most amazing sounds ever. I love his sweet baby voice!
• His reflux seems to be very controlled. We are looking forward to being able to wean him from his medicine and enjoy a reflux free baby.
  
• He is loving "Your Baby Can Read" just like his sister. When his video is on he is so amazed and enthralled. It may just be a few more months before he starts reading, but I am not expecting that.... just saying. Lula Mae was reading her first words at 8 and a half months. We shall see :-)

As exciting as it is to see Jayce grow and change, I hope time slows down a little bit. I am trying so hard to soak in all these sweet moments, but I feel like they are slipping away at lightning speed! Happy 7 months Jayce, you are such a gift from God and I love you so very much!

200 Challenge Update

I haven't done a 200 Challenge in forever. I figured at this point I shouldn't try to back track and breakdown each month, but I thought giving you my overall totals would be a good idea.

August $204.53

September $197.52

October $193.48

November $208.69

Are wondering what The 200 Challenge is? Well then you haven't been reading my blog long enough now have you... shame on you! No, I'm kidding! A friend of mine and fellow blogger started a grocery challenge at the beginning of this year to try and see if she could spend $200 or less each month. I joined in, since I am always in for saving money! All in all I have done well and really enjoyed this challenge. I will be continuing to use this budget in 2011. It has really saved us a lot and I am grateful for Sarah putting this challenge together and teaching me how to better budget my finances. Her challenge sparked something major in me. I wanted to do better in all categories, not just groceries. My budget has not been the same (in a good way). In January I will post how much I spent on groceries for the year, along with how much I would have spent had I not joined the challenge. I will let you be the judge of whether is was worth it.