Baby's Here!

I mentioned Sunday I was a new aunt, and it's awesome! After 13 hours of labor and 1hour 45minutes of pushing, a beautiful 8lb 13oz 23inch girl was born! There's some drama with the "baby daddy" I won't get into, but because of that you'll just have to do with pictures of her feet. Believe me though, she's cute, and it's given me an even more serious case of baby fever!

Wordless Wednesday - How To Make An Egg Sandwich In About A Minute

I've been doing this forever and can't remember where I read the tip, but it's awesome for a really quick breakfast. That's one egg in the coffee mug, a wet papertowel on top (important, unless you really like cleaning scrambled eggs out of your microwave), and I put mine in for 1 minute although you might need to adjust according to the microwave power. Yum!












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I'm An Aunt...

and its my birthday...please excuse my lack of posting, and my lack of proper punctuation and grammar as i am writing this on my phone. hope you're doing great and i will update soon. thanks for sticking with me through my lack of updates.

Today I...

"Dear World:
I bequeath to you today one little girl...in a crispy dress...with two brown eyes...and a happy laugh that ripples all day long.. and a flash of light brown hair that bounces in the sun when she runs.
I trust you'll treat her well.

She's slipping out of the backyard of my heart this morning...and skipping off down the street to her first day of school. And never again will she be completely mine.
Prim and proud she'll wave her young and independent hand this morning and say "Goodbye" and walk with little lady steps to the schoolhouse.

Now she'll learn to stand in lines...and wait by the alphabet for her name to be called. She'll learn to tune her ears for the sounds of school-bells...and deadlines...and she'll learn to giggle...and gossip...and look at the ceiling in a disinterested way when the little boy 'cross the aisle sticks out his tongue at her. And now she'll learn to be jealous. And now she'll learn how it is to feel hurt inside. And now she'll learn how not to cry.

No longer will she have time to sit on the front porch on a summer day and watch an ant scurry across the crack in the sidewalk. Nor will she have time to pop out of bed with the dawn and kiss lilac blooms in the morning dew. No, now she'll worry about those important things...like grades and which dress to wear and whose best friends is whose. And the magic of books and learning will replace the magic of her blocks and dolls. And now she'll find new heroes.

For five full years now I've been her sage and Santa Claus and pal and playmate and mother and friend. Now she'll learn to share her worship with her teachers ...which is only right. But no longer will I be the smartest woman in the whole world. Today when that school bell rings for the first time...she'll learn what it means to be a member of the group...with all its privileges and its disadvantages too.

She'll learn in time that proper young ladies do not laugh out loud...or kiss dogs...or keep frogs in pickle jars in bedrooms...or even watch ants scurry across cracks in sidewalks in the summer.
Today she'll learn for the first time that all who smile at her are not her friends. And I'll stand on the front porch and watch her start out on the long, lonely journey to becoming a woman.
So, world, I bequeath to you today one little girl...in a crispy dress...with two brown eyes...and a flash of light brown hair that bounces in the sunlight when she runs.

I trust you'll treat her well."

-Victor Bruno



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The kiddos went back to school today. While they're not mine, and they're both boys, I heard this poem on the radio today and it was very touching! I was so ready to see them back to school to restore some peacefulness and relaxation in my day, but when the baby was napping it was so quiet I didn't know what to do with myself! Hope all of you parents survived the first day back to school, and all of you teachers survived with your sanity still intact!

Wordless Wednesday

I'd love to stay and chat, but really I...

Terrific Tuesday

Flashback to childhood toys of mine today with the kiddos. We went digging through one of the kiddos closets and found some legos and some lincoln logs! Score!

...side note...is it just me or have legos gotten increasingly complex since I was young? There were a million pieces and like, 35 steps, to complete each little project in the booklet that came with it.

Also, the weather was super nice; especially this morning when it was still in the 80's and humidity was low! We went outside and played hopscotch (throwing in the teaching stuff there counting by 1's and 2's!),


and then we played a game that I kind of made up as we went along with a bullseye and some water guns (practicing counting by 5's and turn taking).


Oh, and then when it got too hot we brought it back new school with some Xbox360 Kinect Bowling!

Only a week and a couple days until the kiddos go back to school I can make it through...I think! :p







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Weekend Wrap Up

I've had lots of fun this weekend! My Mom came up to celebrate my birthday early, and got me some really cute beach chairs and an umbrella for my upcoming beach trip! Then, we went to a real live storage auction! I'm one of those dorks that watch the auction shows like Storage Wars and Auction Hunters, and when I drove by and saw that one by my house was having one I was so excited!

I didn't buy anything, but it was fun to go to and just see what people have stored. This auction had 6 storage units, and they all belonged to one person! Talk about someone in need of an intervention from Hoarders!!!

We also went to the Raleigh Farmers Market and ate at the Seafood Restaurant. I've lived in or near Raleigh for 8 years now, and I hadn't been to this place until a few months ago...I missed out for so long! If you like seafood, it's definitely worth a visit if you live close or visit!

NC Seafood Restaurant

I got the Fried Clam Strip lunch portion that comes with slaw, hush puppies, and fries for less than $8. Mom got the same but with shrimp instead, and my hubster got a fried catfish sandwich for $5. We all enjoyed it, then walked around the market and sampled the fresh foods and looked at the pretty flowers!

I've also found another DIY project I want to do. I'm sure it's not new and original, but I saw this at the market, and love the way it looks!

I think I'll try it out with a big wooden bucket and some type of cute colorful top planter!

How was your weekend? Have you ever gotten anything cool from a storage auction?

Five Favorite Finds - Tips and Trick Edition

A not so secret addiction of mine is Pinterest, and lately there have been some pretty cool tips and tricks I've found, which I thought I'd share with you.

Food Lush Blog shares how to keep mold from growing on fresh fruit - wash them in a one part vinegar 10 part water mixture

10 more things to do with vinegar are shared at This Old House - my favorite is cleaning a paintbrush

Martha Stewart, the genius she is, has some great cleaning tips - one is to use a pillowcase to dust your fans so the dust doesn't fly everywhere...why didn't I think of that before!?

I don't know about you (it's probably just me), but I always ruin my cast iron pans just because I can't get them clean enough and it drives me nuts. Martha Stewart also says to scrub them with course salt and a sponge; it gets all the oils and foods off.

Life Hacker shares an idea for an ice bucket that doesn't end up a watery mess - put a colander in a drip bucket! I've seen some really pretty ones at Pier 1 too; I might have to buy some and try this out for my next party!

Birthday Freebies

My birthday's coming up soon, and I've gotten a lot of coupons from different places because it's my birthday month. Here are some of the freebies I've received, and all you have to do is sign up to be on their mailing list; then they'll send them to you for your birthday:

Dairy Queen - B1G1 mini, small, or medium blizzard (p.s. their new nutter butter blizzard is amazing)
Orange Julius - B1G1 orange julius or smoothie
Zaxby's - free big zax snack meal
World Market - $10 off a purchase of $10 or more (whoohoo!)
Joe's Crab Shack - free appetizer
Sonic - free tater tots
Redbox - free movie rental
Bojangles - free sausage biscuit or cajun filet biscuit

I'll let you know more as they roll in...

Cheesecake Stuffed Peaches

In last months issue of Better Home and Garden magazine, there was a recipe for cheesecake stuffed peaches, and they looked amazing! The inlaws came over today so I tried it out...and it was really really good. Here's the link for you, and I've copied and pasted the recipe straight from the BH&G site!

Ingredients
6 peaches, halved and pitted
1/4 cup butter, melted
3 tbsp. cinnamon-sugar
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

Directions
Preheat oven to 350*F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper; set aside. Trim a very thin slce from the round side of each peach half so halves stand flat on the baking pan. Dip peach halces in melted butter to coat. Arrange peach halves, cut sides up, in prepared pan. Sprinkle cut sides of peaches with cinnamon sugar; set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl beat cream cheese with a mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add sugar, egg yolk, and vanilla. Beat until combined. Spoon cream cheese mixture into peach centers.

Bake uncovered, about 30 minutes or until lightly browned and softened. Serve warm or at room temperature.
In the recipe it said to cook for 30 minutes but I only did for 18 and they were perfect!

Please ignore the fact that they look like a decaying molar :)


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