- a weekend away -

Big, big weekend for me. I'm excited and really nervous all at the same time...it's my first time away from Ellie this weekend! Yep, in almost 2 years, I have never been away from her for more than 8 hours or so. It's not that I've never wanted to spend a night away from her. It just hasn't really happened until now. Every time we talked about planning a weekend away, something always came up. Matt has been on a few trips since she was born, but I have never spent a night away from her, let alone a whole weekend! So, needless to say, even though I know we are going to have a lot of fun, these 3 days and 2 nights away from my sweet girl might be a little rough for me! She has been so amazing lately, and I just know I am going to miss her so much. Wish me luck my lovely friends! I'll be back Monday morning to report how things went (I know she will do just fine...she's spending the weekend with her amazing Lola, who she loves to death...it's me that I'm worried about!)

(Image credit Nina S)

I'll miss you sweet girl!

(Oh, btw, I FINALLY got around to adding my Facebook and Twitter buttons to my sidebar! Feel free to follow me that way if that's your thing!)

- happy birthday Brayden -

Today is Ellie's best friend's 2nd birthday!

Brayden is an amazing little boy, and I absolutely adore both him and his mom (and of course his dad)... Ellie adores them too, which means they are keepers!

Happy Happy Birthday sweet boy! We LOVE you kiddo!

- crayon mischief -

Nothing beats coming back into the living room (after leaving for less than a minute), to find that your toddler has colored all over your laptop! Yup, all over! All over the screen, the keyboard, every bit of it was covered in crayon (a lovely shade of blue I might add!) I didn't even think about snapping a picture of her artwork to share with all of you, as I was in the middle of having a minor major heart attack...until I started wiping it off and remembered that she had luckily pulled the bag of washable crayons out of her art cabinet to color with instead of the box of non washable crayons. Her artwork wiped away with ease, and all was quickly back to normal in our household (after a stern but calm talk with the little toddler). I know this won't be the last time that I find her "artwork" where it shouldn't be...which is why that box of non washable crayons magically "disappeared" last night and might not ever return.

I mean, who needs non washable crayons anyway?

And who can stay mad at this little one?
(well, it helps that her artwork washed away so easily! I might be singing a different tune if I was typing on a Crayola stained laptop right now!)

- quick recipe of the week -

Hello, hello, and Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a fabulously delightful weekend! We celebrated Ellie's best friend, Brayden's, birthday. It was so much fun! I can't believe he is two! That means Ellie is not far behind!

Today I would like to introduce you to the super sweet, totally cute Genevieve, from Life on the Terrace. Genevieve has a 14 month old son named Parker, and a husband named Lucas. She is a stay at home mom and she started her blog when she was first pregnant with Parker. Now she updates it with a lot of photos of what is going on in their life and her experiences as a new mom. She is quite a talented photographer and I always love seeing the new pictures she posts! Genevieve's blog is definitely a daily read for me!

(Image credit Genevieve)

Italian Sausage and White Bean Soup 
-Adapted from A Dash of Sass Blog & Cooking Light-
12 ounces hot Italian turkey sausage (or you can use sweet for a more mild flavor)
1/2 cup diced green bell pepper
1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
1/2 cup diced onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 (19 ounce) can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1 (14.5 ounce) can crushed or stewed tomatoes
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon Italian blend spices
Olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste

Heat a large saucepan or high-sided skillet over medium heat. Add enough olive oil to coat the pan. Add green peppers and onion. Saute until soft. Add minced garlic and quickly saute. Be careful to continue stirring to avoid burning the garlic. Remove sausage casing and tear sausage into small pieces. Add sausage to pepper and onion mixture. Cook until browned and crumbled, approximately 5 to 8 minutes. Add beans and tomatoes. Add spices. Stir to combine. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cook for 5 to 10 minutes or until thoroughly warmed and thickened.

(Image credit Genevieve)

Printable Recipe

I am LOVING all of the yummy fall recipes lately. Perfect football food. Thanks Genevieve! I hope everyone takes a trip over to her blog to say hi to her and meet her darling family!

- dreaming of a vacation -

I'm dreaming of spending a week here...

Matt and I used to travel all the time...all over the world. We absolutely love traveling, and we always swore we would continue traveling even after having kids. I would love to book a vacation for the three of us very soon. (God knows we need a vacation!) And I know financially we definitely could swing it. But then, I second guess myself...are we being stupid spending that much money on a week long vacation? Should that money go into savings instead? It was much easier to say "let's go for it" when we were younger and didn't have as many responsibilities.

But now, I'm torn...

A part of me says "Just do it!"  Life is about experiencing things, and enjoying things. We have the money, so why not? Ellie would love the trip, and she really is a good toddler to travel with. It definitely would not be a nightmare to bring her along. But then a part of me says we should be smart...save our money...sock it away for the future.

What to do, what to do?? Oh, it's so tempting!

- random thoughts of the evening -

Some of you may love these random posts...nothing but rambling thoughts, no rhyme or reason. Some of you may hate them...nothing but rambling thoughts, no rhyme or reason. But whichever the case is for you, this is all I got for you tonight. I don't have any deep, poignant thoughts. No heart warming moments to share...just rambling thoughts, no rhyme or reason...

- I am seriously loving Courtney over at The Mommy Matters. I have loved her blog since the first day I found it, but lately I have really been inspired by her raw, honest blogging style.

- Speaking of blogs that I love, I am going to start a "blogging spotlight" over on my sidebar (an idea that I am borrowing from the lovely {shutter}mama)...featuring one of my favorite bloggers every two weeks. Keep a look out for that coming soon!

- I am intensely craving pizza right now. I don't know why...I'm not actually that hungry. I cooked a very healthy, filling meal for dinner, but for some reason, I am seriously craving some pizza. Like a big slice of NY style pizza...yum!

- Can someone please tell me why my child is growing like a weed right now? The funny thing is, she is still a tiny kid for her age, but I feel like she is outgrowing so many of her clothes right now! She was in a size 4 shoe for two weeks...yes, that's right, only two weeks! Some of the size 4 shoes I had for her she didn't even wear! I feel like she has been so small since she was born and now she is trying to catch up to the other kids her age! Total growth spurt means more shopping for clothes for her (fun), which means spending more money (not fun).

- Did anyone else watch the long drawn out Apple iPhone announcement today? Yes, I am a nerd for watching it. But I work in a major Mac office, and things like that excite my co-workers, so we had it streaming into our office. The new "personal assistant" coming out on the iPhone 4S looks promising! Everything else was just kind of "ho-hum" in my opinion.

- Birthdays, birthdays, birthdays...it's almost Ellie's birthday and the party planning is in full swing. But before Ellie's birthday, we have 2 other birthdays to celebrate, and we have already celebrated 3 birthdays since Sept 1....and, after Ellie's birthday, 2 more to celebrate, all friends and family! Holy cow, fall is the season for birthdays around here.

- I need to start staying up later (I say this at 11:22 p.m. as I am still up, writing this post). Seriously though, I have so many things I want to get done, and I don't seem to have any time to do it all! But seriously how do you night owls stay up until the wee hours of the morning? I know a lot of people say that's when the get the most done...when the house is quiet and everyone has gone to bed, but geez, I'm dead tired and it's not even midnight! And yet, I could think of at least 5 things I could accomplish if I just stayed up a couple hours later tonight...yeah, that's not gonna happen...not tonight.

And because posts are just boring without pictures, here are a couple of none other than my darling little girl (who doesn't seem fit into any of her clothes that are hanging in her closet right now!)

- quick recipe of the week -

Happy Monday friends! Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. Can you believe that it is October already?? CRAZY! 

I have the cutest blogger here today to share another yummy recipe with you! Meet Lindsay, the girl behind the blog, Lee La La  .

(Image credit Lindsay)

Lindsay has the cutest daughter with the most adorable name. Meet Landyn.

(Image credit Lindsay)

Lindsay is also a very talented crafter. She has her own Etsy shop that you should really check out. I would absolutely die for this wrap bracelet and could totally see it being a daily wear for me!

Lindsay was over the moon excited to be contributing a recipe for me today because as a momma, she knows how important it is to have QUICK and EASY recipes on hand at all times! (Amen to that!) She also knows how easy it is to get into a cooking slump where you end up cooking the same recipes over and over. That's why sharing recipes is so great! Today, Lindsay is sharing a quick and easy recipe that is always a hit with her family. Have you ever tried Paula Deen's Taco Soup? A friend of Lindsay's recently introduced her to it, and she's been hooked ever since! She could eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. (This must be a really good recipe! )

Taco Soup

2 lbs ground turkey

2 cups diced onions

2 cans pinto beans

1 can kidney beans

1 can kernel corn, drained

1 can Mexican style stewed tomatoes

1 can diced tomatoes

1 can tomatoes with chile's

2 (4 1/2 oz) cans of diced green chile's

1 can black olives, drained and diced

1/2 cup green olives, drained and diced

1 package of taco seasoning mix

1 package ranch salad dressing mix

 Brown the ground turkey and onions in a skillet.Transfer the browned turkey to a crock pot. Add the rest of your ingredients (above) into crock pot. Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours. Garnish with Frito's, sour cream, and grated cheese.

(Image credit Lindsay)

Printable Recipe

Thank you so much Lindsay. It sounds like the perfect fall recipe!

Lindsay LOVES meeting new friends, so stop on by her blog and say hello!