- our weekend wrap up -

I had a minor freakout over the weekend when I started getting a warning message on my beloved MacBook Pro that my "start up disk is almost full". A little investigation and some help from the wonderful IT company we use at my work, led me to discover that my laptop has been running with less than 1GB of hard drive space for a few months now. This is scary because the programs that I run, especially Photoshop and some programs I use for work, technically should not be running when you have that little bit of hard drive space left. At any moment, my computer could have crashed, and my hard drive would have been fried...meaning nothing recoverable! While I do back up all of my pictures on both a CD and an external hard drive, I definitely don't do it on a weekly basis by any means, so "many a pictures" could have been gone! Needless to say, I backed EVERYTHING up this weekend, and ordered a new hard drive to be installed ASAP! I can't really work on my computer or use Photoshop until then though :-(

Besides that, we had a great weekend! Lots of sun, good food, good friends...ya know, the usual stuff that makes me smile!

Friday night our friends had a babysitter, which is rare, so we took advantage and met them for dinner and drinks. As always, we had a fabulous time!

Lisa and I, all dressed up for a night on the town!

Saturday we played at the park and then did the usual "housekeeping" chores while Ellie napped. After she woke up, we took her down by the water and had a picnic dinner. So much fun! I love family time when we can do things with just the three of us sometimes. I took a lot of pictures, but due to my scary computer warnings, I was only able to edit a few. They are my favorite though! I so rarely get pictures of myself and Ellie together, and these are just too precious! I can seriously hear her "I'm being tickled" belly laugh just by looking at these pictures!

 

Sunday we hit up one of the many farmer's markets we have around our town. I seriously don't know why we don't do this every weekend! Ellie had so much fun looking at everything, and the produce was so fresh, and super inexpensive! Matt and I decided that we MUST get to a farmer's market at least every other weekend while the weather is still so nice!

So many beautiful flower bouquets...unfortunately, we didn't grab any this time around.

 We did, however, take home some DELICIOUS heirloom tomatoes and some other fresh goodies!

 One of the stands at the market had a random collection of rubber duckies for sale. Of course, Ellie had to play with all of them! We finally caved and paid the $2.00 so she could actually take one with her...but the little one doesn't quite understand "only one" yet. There were a few tears shed when we had to take some of them out of her hands, but she did end up scoring one funky rubber ducky when all was said and done!

 

 She seriously had to touch them all!

The one she finally ended up keeping!

What a great morning at the farmers market...did I mention the "to die for" red velvet cookies we picked up...YUMMY!

Ellie examining some of our farmers market loot!

We wrapped up our weekend on Sunday evening with the most perfectly cooked filets topped with bleu cheese and onion crisps and some heavenly scalloped mashed potatoes (thank you again Dwayne and Lisa)...all totally low fat of course...yeah right! But we did add in a healthy tomato and cucumber salad, compliments of the farmers market earlier that morning!  Now I have to up the workout regimen this week, but it was totally worth it! All in all, another wonderful weekend!

- quick recipe of the week -

Happy Monday everyone! Today's recipe is another great summer recipe!

Today I am pleased to introduce Wendy, from Around My Family Table. Wendy married her high school sweetie over 13 yrs ago and she is now a SAHM. She has a 6 year old daughter who has some special needs and a rambunctious 2 year old son. Wendy has been cooking for as long as she can remember. Her mom taught her how to cook when she was younger and when she finally left home, she was able to prepare meals instead of boxed dinners or take out. That's probably what won her hubby’s heart. Wendy cooks mostly from scratch (kudos to her for that!) She grinds my own grains for breads, raises chickens for fresh eggs, and has a bunch of fruit trees. She always tries her best to feed her family the healthiest foods possible!

Caprese Salad on a Stick
fresh basil leaves
grape tomatoes
marinated mozzarella balls
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tb sugar

Feed the tomatoes, basil, and mozzarella onto a skewer in a pattern, so that they look uniform and pretty.  Store in fridge until ready to use. Before serving, combine the balsamic vinegar and sugar in a small sauce pan.  Bring to a gentle boil and allow to reduce at least by half (maybe 10-15 minutes).  Stir frequently. Drizzle over the top of the skewers.  Enjoy!

(Image credit Wendy)

Printable Recipe

These are a HUGE hit around my house! Not so much for my picky little one who refuses to eat cheese (what child doesn't like cheese?...oh yeah, that's right, my child)...but my hubby and I love them! YUM!

Thanks Wendy!

- too many balls in the air -

I think I am trying to juggle too many balls right now....I have about 5 different projects in the works for this little cutie's room...

 

They are all projects I am super excited about, but I just can't get myself to actually finish any of them! I have all of the materials purchased...but I think I had too many ideas all at once, and now I can't sit down and get any of them finished!

One at a time, one at a time...I need to finish them one at a time. Hopefully I will make some big progress this weekend!

Happy Friday!

- a little party planning in the works -

Okay, so Ellie's 2nd birthday is a little more than 3 months away....first of all...AGH! I'm going to have a 2 year old soon! Where did my little baby go? Secondly, 3 months away means I better start planning the party! Yes, I am a planner! I like to plan waaaaay in advance. Plus, I like love planning parties, especially children's parties. They are so much fun. I would love to plan parties as a side business...but wait, that would mean I would have to have some spare time...nope, last time I checked, I have none of that! But anyway, I am getting a head start on Ellie's party mostly because I am so excited and just couldn't wait any longer!

Since Ellie's best bud, Brayden, is only one month older than her, my wonderful friend, Lisa and I, decided to combine their parties this year into one bundle of fun. And because Lisa is so wonderful, she gave me the thumbs up to come up with the theme for the party. I knew I didn't want to do any sort of "character" theme (Sesame Street, Mickey Mouse, etc), and I also knew it couldn't be girly at all since the party would be for Brayden too. I have been in love with one particular theme for awhile now, and it is totally gender neutral.

So here is what we will be going with...a Vintage Circus theme!

(Image credit Etsy)

Maybe not super original, but I am so excited and I have a lot of fun ideas already! Who knows how many of those ideas will actually materialize in 3 months, but that's why I am starting now! Here are just a few things that I have found so far that I am loving.

- cute favor bags -

(Image credit Etsy)

- fun banner -

(do I dare try to make one like this myself?)

(Image credit Etsy)

 - circus striped straws -

One of my friends/professional photographer who does all of Ellie's photo shoots will be there taking pictures for us, so I would love to set up some sort of "photo booth" area where she can take pictures of the guests wearing paper mustaches and other silly circus props. Hmmm, I could go on and on thinking of all of the fun ideas!

I'm sure I will post updates along the way, but stay tuned in November for the big "2nd Birthday Party" reveal post so you can see how it all turned out!

Have you guys seen any cute or original ideas for a Vintage Circus party? I would love to hear even more ideas!

- looking for guest contributors -

I am currently looking for more guest recipe contributors who would like to be featured on my "quick recipe of the week" series! I have open slots starting in September. It's fun, it's easy, and it will help other busy parents find quick and easy recipes for their families (plus, you gain some blog exposure too...that's always a plus!)

If you are interested, please leave me a comment, or contact me through the contact form on my blog!

And have yourself a wonderful Wednesday!

(Image credit Chromaluna.com)

- discovery and wonder -

I don't think I will ever get tired of watching Ellie discover new things. It is so much fun to watch her squeal in delight when she finds something new outside. And then when we tell her what it is that she just found, she'll repeat the word over and over again as if she is trying so hard to memorize it.

She found some snails in our front yard the other day. She named this one "Doo-doo". Don't ask me where she came up with that name, but it was the cutest thing to watch her follow it around saying "Hi Doo-doo"

She sat on the steps so patiently for such a long time, watching it move at it's slow snail pace...never getting bored or tired of it. She was just so proud that she had found a snail!

 

And then, I tried to get a shot of the two of us, because I never seem to have shots of just the two of us...sigh, of course, the little stinker wouldn't look at the camera!

Ah, I love that little girl so much! And I hope discovering new and wondrous things never gets old to her!

- quick recipe of the week -

Happy Monday! Hope you had as fabulous of a weekend as I did! Nothing better than a girl's night out with my favorite friend, followed by some great family time! Unfortunately, we did not get around to anything on our summer bucket list! That's definitely gotta be top priority next weekend!

Today's recipe would be exceptional for a weekend brunch, or even "breakfast for dinner". (My dad used to cook us "breakfast for dinner" every once in awhile...my sister and I always loved it).

Mika, from Mika's Pantry shared this recipe with us today. Mika is a working mom with a wonderful husband and 3 fabulous kids. Mika and Jim have two biological boys, Tyler (20), and Tanner (18) who will both be going to Oklahoma State University in the Fall. They are all big O-State fans! They also have a daughter, Bay who was adopted from South Korea when she was only 4 months old.

Mika's passions are cooking, cookbooks, reading, knitting, her Papillon puppy, and being outdoors. She mainly blogs for fun, but she always hopes other people can enjoy it and find a recipe that they love from reading her blog. Thanks Mika, for sharing this recipe!

Potato Skin Eggs
2-4 potatoes cut in half, length-wise
one egg for each potato half
cheese
2 tbs granulated garlic
additional toppings if desired

Scoop out the flesh of the potato leaving a 1/4 shell and fill with cheese.  Crack your eggs, being careful not to break the yolk, and put one egg in each potato half. Top with a good amount of granulated garlic.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes or until the egg is set.

Serve with sour cream, salsa, bacon, green onions or any additional toppings and enjoy!

(Image credit Mika)

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