Mac'N'Ham Bowls

Aren't these cute?! They are so perfect for an appetizer! I made these (along with some homemade potato chips) for dinner tonight and they are definitely husband approved!) 

All you need to do to make these is line a muffin tin with two slices of ham (A few cups needed three slices just to create the bowl shape), and cook at 350 for 20 minutes (or less if you'd like them to still be juicy!) Fill with Mac'N'Cheese and serve! My husband loved that it was finger food as well as portion controlled!

Enjoy!

DIY: Bottle Cap Badge Clips

About a year ago I made myself a badge clip with a bottle cap. Not a day goes by that someone doesn't say something about it, and that is why I decided I HAD to share this tutorial with you!

What You'll Need: 

Badge Clips (You can buy 3 packs at Wal-Mart)

Bottle Caps (available at any craft supply store) 

Lanyard

Mod Podge

Mod Podge Dimensional Magic

Hot Glue & Glue Gun

Step One: 

Prep your bottle cap by taking the image of your choice and gluing it to the bottle cap with the mod podge. Set aside and let dry. Plug in your hot glue gun and let it warm up.

Step Two: 

Once Dry, trim the edges of the image. Flip bottle cap over and fill entirely with hot glue. On your badge clip create a swirl with the hot glue and seal the bottle cap to the clip. Hold together for a moment to make sure it seals tightly. 

Step Three:

Using scissors or a box cutter cut the image til it fits the bottle cap completely. Use a light layer of the Mod Podge Dimensional Magic and seal the image. Let dry as directed on the bottle (3 hours). Once dry, attach to the lanyard and show it off!

The Upside: You now have a cute, one-of-a-kind lanyard/badge clip.

The Downside: Wal-Mart rotates the colors of their badge clips, so you may never have the same 3 colors twice.

This week in Photos

This week has been a busy one, thats for sure! Check out our week in photos! 

(Above) Lunch at the Training Table last week. Bubba and I were the only ones there, so we broke out the camera!

(Below) Baby boy in his Bumbo for the first time during our little family BBQ.

Bubba grilling up our hot dogs- told you our BBQ was little! It's perfect for apartment living because we can put it inside- no one will steal it!

We coach two soccer teams during the week- 8-10yos and 4-6yos. We went to their game today. Here's Brayden and I, bundled up and enjoying the game! Mother of the year that I am, he spit up RIGHT as I took the photo. Ugh!

Daddy and his little man,  proud papa to say the least! (Do you like the mohawk? I did baby boys hair in a mohawk last night, and he insisted on doing his to match. Now he likes it a bit too much).  

Two of our best players (one from each team) just hanging out between games. 

Here's our 5yos playing. They're so cute! 

The best part was- both teams won! Good job Blue Cheese and Black Ninjas! We're so proud of you both!

The Challenge: "Date Your Spouse & Date 'em Good"

I was issued this challenge a few weeks ago; "Date Your Spouse & Date 'em Good."

My husband and I agreed and we decided that we needed to take this challenge- the problem is, what can we do? When we started dating, we dated a lot and did a lot of fun things. Below is a list of 60 date ideas

Dates We've Done- And Loved!

Trying on Crazy Hats!

Going Out
Day Dates:

1. Go to a park and do a photo shoot with each other
2. Attend the Utah Arts Festival
3. Road Trip (Mini or long!)
4. Check out the Park City Arts Festival
5. Go to tourist attraction - like Antelope Island or Wheeler Farm!
6. Go to the party store and try on all the fun hats and props! 
7. Go Shooting. Read this post for tips and advice.
8. Visit the Highland Games (a Scottish Festival).
9. Check out Oktoberfest!
10. Pull out the bikes and hit the trails made just for biking!

Night Dates:

Tickets to Friendlies are very affordable

1. Bowling (or Cosmic Bowling!)
2. Hot Cocoa and Star Gazing. For best results in Utah, go south, it has the BEST stargazing
3. Nickelcade/Nickelmania
4. 2 for 20 Dinners
5. Dinner and a Movie - Cliche, but it works!
6. Find a trail around a lake or river and take a walk before sunset.
7. Go to a local Soccer game.
8. Hot Cocoa/Coffee and a road trip. Go far enough away to actually get away from your stresses at home.

Staying In

Spend time with pets

1. Discuss our Family Goals; Short Term and Long Term
2. Video Game Night
3. Picnic on the floor
4. Spa Night - Soak in the tub and give each other massages
5. Sit in front of the fire and just talk.
6. Buy some new pajamas, curl up in bed and enjoy a movie marathon.
7. Pamper your pet. It'll make you both feel good!
8. Watch something you'd rather not admit you love, like the Muppets.
9. Practice Yoga - Netflix has videos online, and no one will ever know how bad you are at it!

Dates We Want To Do:
Going Out:

Don't forget to enjoy yourselves!

1. Go to a Comedy Club- such as Wise Guys or Quick Wits.
2. Mini-Golfing
3. Roller Skating
4. Rock Climbing - outdoors or in a gym!
5. Spend a weekend off the grid- no electronics
6. Ice Skating
7. Go to the Planetarium
8. Find a great walking track and go for a walk - Daybreak has awesome trails.
9. Go to the Festival of Colors - or try a color run!
10. Check out the Natural history museum.
11. Check out the Dinosaur museum
12. Go to an ice cream parlor and indulge in the good stuff!
13. Go Paint balling!
14. Take a one-night class, pottery, art, even a exercise class!
15. Go to a minor-league ball game and enjoy the sport.
16. Try a bar/restaurant crawl - go to a different place to try different foods or drinks. 
17. Similar to #16, but find a Tour De Bar Crawl - its a bar crawl on bikes!
18. Go to a college football game. Don't forget to tailgate before!
19. Try our hand at Racquetball
20. Check out some specialty stores downtown- and take lots of photos!
21. Go to an amusement park!



Sidewalk Chalk!

22. Buy some sidewalk chalk and go for broke! (photo thanks to my nieces)

Staying In: 

1. Eating our favorite fast food on our best china. 
2. Downloading new podcasts and music on Itunes
3. Create new playlists for each others Ipods and sync them accordingly.
4. Find our favorite movies on Netflix, cuddle up on the couch and watch!
5. Buy different flavors of popcorn seasoning and have a popcorn taste test
6. Pull out all the craft supplies and tools in the house, and have a craft night!
7. Have a clean-off. Work together to get the house clean and then spend the free time left over relaxing.
8. Read your favorite blogs or blog posts to each other.
9. Find comics or mini-shows online and laugh together.
10. Create a photo board of your plans as a couple (brochures, photos, to-do's)
11. Plan more dates with your spouse!

Do you have any ideas to add to the list? What kind of dates have you done and enjoyed? Share below!

Baked Mac'N'Cheese

Let me start by saying that if you ever want to make Mac'N'Cheese, THIS is the recipe you want to use! I've been trying to make this for years now, and my husband was so kind during my failed attempts. Now that he's had this version, he knows why I wanted to prefect it!

Here's what you need:

Fiesta Blend Cheese (Shredded) About 3 cups
Parmesan Cheese (small bag- 1/2 bag)
Mozzarella Cheese about one handful
1 box of elbow macaroni
1/2 stick butter
1 Cup Milk
1 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream
Optional: Bacon Bits - to taste.
Optional: Bread crumbs, Ritz crackers or Cheese-It's - for a crunchy top.

Step One: Cook Macaroni on the stove top. My mom taught me a new trick of adding salt and a splash of water BEFORE boiling, and it does make the noodles easier to cook and cook faster. Once cooked, drain noodles.

Prep your cooking dish by placing the stick of butter in the bottom of the pan. Place the noodles on top and stir until the butter has melted.

Step Two: Add all the other ingredients, except for the optional item for the crunchy top. Stir well. If needed, add more milk and cream until it "looks moist" (If that makes any sense!).

Set the oven to 350. If you'd like the crunchy top, add it now by crumbling the item of choice over the top of the dish. We did Cheese-Its and it was actually quite good!

Step Three: Bake for 30 minutes or until cheese is boiling and dish is golden. Let cool and serve!

I grew up eating this with Gluten-Free noodles and it is an AWESOME dish! We've also had it with veggies mixed in, such as corn and peas. It is a very easy dish to make and is definitely a "man-pleasing" meal!

Pizza

Sometimes you just need an easy recipe. Tonight's recipe was from the brilliant mind of my momma!

Step One: Buy Pizza

Step Two: Remove Plastic

Step Three: Cook and Enjoy!

I promise I have real recipes coming soon!

Mirror, Mirror, on the floor gym...

This week Baby has been wiggling until he finds himself directly under the mirror of the floor gym. When he finds himself in it, he smiles big, coos loudly and wiggles lots! He seems so excited to see somebody in the mirror! 

Hope y'all are having a great week- posts to come!

Healthy Fettuccine

Believe it or not, this is my dads recipe, and it is by far my favorite Italian dish! Dad's been making it since I was a little kid, and even at four years old, we loved it then. We call it "Healthy" because of how many vegetables go into it! It is DELICIOUS and easy to make! 

What you'll need:

1 Green Pepper
1 Red Pepper
a handful of Mushrooms
1 Zucchini

1/2 an onion

1 Package of  Fettuccine noodles

1 can Artichoke Hearts

2 cans of Alfredo Sauce

2 Chicken Breasts

Step One: While boiling the chicken, chop all your vegetables into cubes. Separate into small bowls and set aside. Once the chicken is cooked, remove from boiling water, and chop into cubes as well. Place into a large pan and cook on medium heat. Mix in the onions as desired.

Step Two: While cooking, add all the vegetables, as desired. We only did half of the peppers in the pan, so that we could over our pasta in the peppers later and it would be crunchy and fresh! Mix and cook. Once the chicken is cooked thoroughly, mix in the Alfredo sauce and sprinkle a little pepper in to taste. 

Meanwhile, cook your pasta noodles in a separate pot. If you are going to make breadsticks (we buy ours from the store, sorry, no good recipe there!), put those in the oven now. Once the pasta is prepared you are good to go!

Step Three: Serve and enjoy! (Psst- this is one of the only ways we can get the men in our family to eat Vegetables, and trust me, I'll be using this same trick with my baby when he's old enough!)

Headin' Down to the Farm

Friday was the day that we finally didn't have any plans. My goal was to get the house clean, but as soon as I got off of work and picked up Brayden, I realized how beautiful the day was and knew we couldn't NOT go outside and do something! I packed a picnic lunch and as soon as Bubba got home we headed off to Wheeler Farm for our family night!

When we got there, it was surprisingly not as busy as I thought it would be. We put Brayden in the stroller and checked out all the cute baby animals, fed the ducks and read up on the history of the farm.

This goat had me laughing so hard. As we approached, he stuck his head in there and kept looking at us, as if to say "HEY GUYS!" Bubba and I both got a big kick out of it!

My hot husband. He's so handsome! Can you believe he's lived in Utah his whole life and never been to Wheeler Farm? He loved it!

Bubba insisted on pushing the stroller. His words? "Real men push strollers." He loves his little man, and I won't try to get between the two of them. They're already best buddies.

We sat down to have our picnic lunch and to feed Brayden. He was in a great mood, making all sorts of cooing noises and enjoying being outside. He is always so happy when he's in the stroller!

Is that not one of the biggest, cutest smiles you've ever seen? Told you he was happy!

He kept looking at daddy and cooing at him. Bubba and I were seriously enjoying the great day with our little man. The only thing he didn't like was the loud barking of the really big (and mean!) geese, that just didn't sit well with him and he got grumpy, so we had to leave.

After dinner the little dude crashed in his daddy's arms and we headed home for the evening. I'm so glad I decided that the chores could wait. Making memories like that is so worth it!

Our Week in Photos!

It's been a fantastic week here! Here is our week in photos!

Uncle Cory Graduated! What he graduated in, we still don't know. It just showed up in the mail one day. I guess if worse comes to worse I could create a fake diploma for him. I did create a fake marriage license  for Bubba and I for a practical joke on my mother in law once - couldn't be much harder!

Bubba and CJ just playing aorund like boys do. Wrestling. Dancing. Playing music and being stinky boys.

My hair looks so red in photos and so blonde in real life. WTF camera?!

Bubbas excitement over our dinner on Wednesday - Cafe Rio! (Trust me, if you have had it you'd be this excited too!) 

Half-Pouf

 This photoshoot has a guest star: BABY BRAYDEN! He was having a super fussy day and didn't want to let me put him down, so guess who got to come with? (Don't tell him this, but I secretly love it!)

I call this the Half-Pouf. It is SUPER easy to do and looked pretty from both the front and the back.

Here's how you do it:

Brush hair into a medium-high ponytail and secure loose ends with pins. Pull ponytail through hair elastic to form a loop and tuck it up and into itself.

Use your fingers to spread the hair apart to make it look rounded and poofy. Use bobby pins to secure the loose ends and secure into place.

From the front this looks like a bun, in the back, a cute updo. I did this style the other day at work and got many compliments on it from my colleagues and patients as well as lots of questions on how to do it.

Here's a photo of momma and the cutie! He looks so much like his daddy and he is getting SO BIG!

Kielbasa Soup

Have you ever had Kielbasa soup? Many Utahns haven't, making this a fun recipe to share with my friends and family. This is my Mom's Recipe, but it is definitely a family favorite and has been for many generations.

What You'll Need: (Serves about 8 - Cut Recipe in Half for a smaller family size)

2 Packages of Kielbasa Sausage
2 Large cans of tomato sauce
2 cans of diced tomatoes
2 packages of Rotini

Step One: Cut Kielbasa into slices, and then into quarters. Drop into the bottom of the pan and cook on medium heat until it is slightly browned.

Step Two: Add tomatoes and about 6 cups of water. Stir well. Add Rotini and if needed, a few more cups of water (I think we ended up with 8 cups of water total.) Stir until blended and cook on medium to high heat.

Step Three: Add a splash of pepper, a chicken bullion cube (to taste, you could add more if you'd like), and a splash of hot sauce. Stir and cook until the noodles are tender. Once tender, serve and enjoy!

What Will You Do This Summer?

I do this every spring. I make a list of all the things I want to do during the summer. This list includes the things I want to do with my spouse, with the baby, and with my nieces, nephews and cousins. Some of these things are things you can only do in SLC - but are fun nonetheless! 

What will you be doing this summer?

DIY "Cosmo" Nails

I'm sure you have heard of Newspaper nails, or even Map Nails, but "Cosmo Nails?" 

I was flipping through my issue of Cosmo and was admiring their font. I then found myself curious as I was eyeballing the small print, could I put these on my nails? 

Guess what? You can!
AND its easier than newspaper to transfer! 

You'll need white (or base) nail polish, clear nail polish and rubbing alcohol. Apply two coats of polish. Once dry, apply magazine paper to your nails and rub with a Q-Tip for best results. Peel back and admire!  (The blue on my ring finger? It says "FUN", both ring fingers have it. My thumb has dating advice.) 

Back to Work

Hey all. 

Just wanted to post a tiny update. I went back to work this week. It wasn't as terrible as I expected it to be, but still a bummer nonetheless. I didn't realize how much I loved my job or missed my colleagues until now. They seriously rock. Meanwhile, Little dude is 11 weeks old. (Here's the photos from last week)
Holy cow. Where did the time go?!

Little man has been waking up with more and more personality every day. He is smiling more and more, and at least smirking at us more. He loves bathtime and splashes like none other! He's been wiggling lots and enjoying life, and his babysitter. Things are fantastic. 

I've got tutorials, recipes and DIY's in the works, so please, bear with me while I get them finished up. With little dude around and going back to work its been tough to get them done. 

Hope y'all are doing well!

Back to Work

Just a few photos of my last week of freedom. 

Baby boy HATES overalls. He cries whenever I put them on him.

The trees are blossoming so pretty!

Snoozing in the carseat while on our walk. 

Hope you're having a fantastic weekend! 

This week in Photos

This week I have taken a LOT of photos. Not sure if it is just me being in the mood or if there was a lot to document, but I enjoyed making the photo collages for this week.

Brayden after bathtime, playing with daddy. Not sure if it is the reflex he's born with, or if he's actually trying to walk, but Bubba is getting a huge kick out of him trying! They have so much fun together.

Since I'm going back to work we're taking his old tub up to my grandmothers with him, meaning we can break out the whale tub we got from my brother and sister in law! Brayden LOVED it and enjoyed being able to splash around in the tub. SO CUTE!

Before bathtime. Snuggling with daddy. The older he gets, the more he likes being nekked. We don't mind it, with summer coming up we know he will be spending time in a diaper at grandmas. It's unavoidable. 

There is no logical reason that I wanted to take a photo of his sad face. He used to fuss quietly, and give us a little warning, we could basically time it and know how long we had. This week, not so much. This week he has been instantly screaming, no warning and it is VERY loud. Since daddy had him, I snapped the photo. Mother of the year, right here.

This isn't his smile, but his smirk. He does this when mommy makes silly noises or the TV makes silly noises. (which is pretty often, out of both of us).