Summer Vacay Dailies: Week 4

I cannot believe that we are already about one month down of Summer vacation- it goes by way too fast!  I'll be honest with you, this week was not extremely eventful- we have been to a lot of baseball games and, as you'll notice, have gone out to eat several times! 

Thursday June 20

One of my favorite places to shop is Sam's Club- it works out perfectly because Jerod loves the cheap Sam's Club lunch options.  We pretty much plan Sam's trips around lunch time.  Who can beat a Nathan's hot dog and a ginormous soda for, like, two bucks?!  We also had a home game Thursday night, and there were plenty of friends on hand for Cailyn to play with.  As this little man inside continues to grow, I am so thankful for other people to help keep her occupied for 4 hours!

Friday June 21

I told Jerod he was in charge of lunch, so, of course, he said we could go buy lunch instead.  Bear with me if I fudged the date on this one, but I wasn't a very good photographer on Friday....these could very well be Thursday photos and I would have no idea.

 Saturday June 20

Baby #2 hit 25 weeks Saturday!  I was trying to belly photograph myself and Cailyn insisted on being in every photo.  But, she was so adorable "cheese"-ing in the background that I couldn't help but just love it!  Saturday afternoon Jerod hung out with Cailyn and I met up with my girlfriends for pedicures and lunch. I was ecstatic to find out one of my friends is expecting 3 weeks before us, their second child also.  It was so much fun to catch up even though it was a short visit, plus- I got to bring home Cheesecake Factory desserts, delish!

 Sunday June 23

Have you noticed this photo showcases a FOURTH meal out to eat?!  We went with my sister, I never turn down Carlos' chips and salsa- usually I have a big margarita, too, but we'd like our children to stay alcohol-free until at least they are out of the womb.  (Just in case someone just gasped at that comment- I am very clearly kidding...if they make it to high school without having a sip in this small town we'll still kick their arses, but would consider that a small victory!)  We busted out new Mickey Mouse bubbles when we got home, a Cailyn fave!

 Monday June 24

Slippers are obviously weather appropriate, given the 100 degree heat index temps.  We have begun taking 2 year photos- don't tell me she's not two yet, I know!  She only works for 10 minutes at a time, so I do a few different "sessions" over a couple weeks to make sure I have plenty to choose from.

 Tuesday June 25

Jerod had a dentist appointment so we took a trip to the fabric store, where they had flannel on sale 50% off, so Cailyn picked out some for herself, and I nabbed a couple yards to make 8 new boy-themed burp cloths, and I got it all for about nine bucks!  I love fabric stores because I get so many ideas when I'm there, the disconnect is when I get home and try to find time to do all those things.  I received two new pairs of sandals in the mail- I love the B.O.C. by born brand, they're so comfortable.  They'll be perfect for when school starts back up and for the rest of the summer.  And I can't forget baking zucchini bread with the little miss- we almost finished off two mini loaves before we left the house for the ball game!

Wednesday June 26

 

Yeah, another game- a big win, but I don't want to jinx anything for their season, so we'll end it at that.  It didn't rain at the game, Cailyn just found the umbrella and decided it would make a good sun shade, which it did- that sun was hot!  I'm not sure what her obsession with winter clothing is lately, but here we are in footie pajamas when it's almost July, what a goof. :)

I just counted and I only have 7 more posts like this left!  I wish I could freeze time, we love being able to spend so much time with Cailyn and be lazy and snuggly in the morning and she's SO BIG...  More summer vacay next week!

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June Birchbox- Finally HERE!!

It's here!  It's here!  It's here! 

Receiving this package in the mail was like Christmas for me!  How can I not get excited about a little brown box with fun makeup and hair products inside?!  When I first signed up to receive a monthly Birchbox subscription the thought, 'What if the samples are awful and I hate them?' crossed my mind.  But, the joy of the box is that you can opt for a monthly payment, it's recurring each month, but if it ends up not being for me- I can just cancel before the next shipment.  So, I took the $10 leap and to my delight- I loved this first box!

 1. Kerastase Chroma Thermique- a leave-in treatment you apply to towel-dried hair to protect it from UV rays.  It smells so good and makes your hair soooo soft!

2. Color Club Nail Polish in Reign in Spain - Part of a little mini set of polishes, and wears as a perfect summer color (see below)

 3. Tweezerman Matchbox files- Perfect for the purse, that's right where this little set went!

4. Coola Organic Face Moisturizer SPF 30 - I haven't tried this, I'm skeptical about putting new things on my skin since it's pretty sensitive.  However, I figure it's good for if I'm in a pinch and need sunscreen for Cailyn

5. Mirenesse Glossy Kiss - A lip liner and cheek stain in one, but I'm a chapstick kinda gal, so it's good for some cheek color on date night...which means it should last a while since date nights are pretty scarce these days!

I just receive this box for fun, and to try out some new things that I probably would never pick out on my own.  Being a working mom, I don't have time to look for beauty items, so I feel like I can treat myself to this little sample box each month that's just for me and not feel too guilty about it!  I hope it's piqued your interest!

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Summer Vacay Dailies: Week 3

I have to tell you that remembering to take pictures every day has been difficult for me.  But, at the same time, I am so happy to have that challenge- it's really helped me document more of our family life, the magnificent and the mundane!

Thursday June 13

Lunch, at West Street Deli of Ames, was a highlight.  Used to go there a lot during my ISU days!  I was also excited to receive the new dry shampoo I ordered- and how cute is the little care the company gives you so you can brag about your new product?! (It is fabulous, by the way- let's me go 1-2 days in between shampooing to give my hair a rest)  The swimming pool in the back yard has been one of our best purchases- we are out there everyday!

Friday June 14

We spent Friday afternoon crafting up some Father's Day Butterfly Footprint paintings for Daddy and the Grandpas.  That night we had a ball game out of town that was supposed to be a double header but was cut short due to some HELLACIOUS lightning!  There was chain lightning all over the place on the way home- thankfully we didn't take on too much rain.

 Saturday June 15

ROSE FESTIVAL

Our town festival was this weekend and we took part in enjoying the parade, baseball tournament, petting zoo, and, for me and Jerod, a street dance up at the beer garden.  Even though I didn't get to take part in any alcohol drinking, I consumed my fair share of Shirley Temples- this baby boy was bouncing around all over inside my belly from the sugar!  Cailyn was lucky enough to get to see both sets of grandparents on this day!

 Sunday June 16

Sunday was a low-key day.  We stayed out way later than we usually are even awake, so waking up was difficult.  It did, however, include a shopping trip to the mall in Ames where I scored an uber-cute chevron pillow courtesy of my sister's keen eye.  A few days earlier I was able to get free priority shipping on any Mixbook order, so I took the liberty of creating some personalized Father's Day cards, an anniversary card, and Cailyn's birthday invites.  They arrived on Friday, just in time!

Monday June 17

A long road trip for West Marshall baseball = Mommy & Cailyn date!  We bought a movie from Target, had dinner at Panera, and snacked on some scrum-diddly-umptious Dark & Sea Salt Ghirardelli Caramel squares...mmmmm...

Tuesday June 18

I just couldn't get my fill of TJ Maxx on Sunday and had to return to check out more stuff- and they delivered again!  This time I picked up to colorful hamper-type baskets for 13 bucks each!  I plan on using the yellow one to corral dirty laundry in the bathroom and the turquoise one to hold throw blankets in the living room.  Also, I about died when I saw Jerod carrying the mail out from the post office because I knew I had received my very first Birchbox subscription!  I will post more about it on a later date to share what was inside. :)

Wednesday June 19

Wednesday saw us transplanting and fertilizing some evergreens in our yard.  Try as she may, Cailyn is not usually as helpful as she thinks she is at these times, but when she gets in to something she's not supposed to she is too fast for me to nab- especially whilst I'm carrying around an extra 25 pounds!

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Best Breakfast EVER!

Well, I have a slightly biased opinion since I make this breakfast all the time- but, my husband asks for it all the time and any family members who have ever eaten it love it as well! This is my go-to, especially in the summer, because it's quick, easy, and relatively inexpensive since strawberries are in season.  Plus, I feel like I'm eating less sugar than with usual pancakes because they are minus the sticky syrup!

White Chocolate Strawberry Short Stack

My ingredients?

Pancake mix made according to directions
White chocolate chips
Fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced

For topping: plenty of butter, powdered sugar, and whipped cream

Simply, add white chocolate chips to your pancake batter- how ever many you like, we like LOTS.  For about 2 cups of pancake mix I add half a bag of white chocolate chips.  Using a ladle, pour a scoop of pancake mix on a skillet- you have to remember to remix the pancake batter before every ladle, because the chips sink to the bottom.  Cook until slightly dry around the edges and the bubbles start to remain open, flip over and cook for about 1-2 more minutes.  Remove from skillet, slather with butter, sprinkle with powdered sugar and sliced strawberries, top with whipped cream, and try to share the rest with your family members!

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Summer Vacay Dailies: Week Dos

 This week wasn't too crazy, but we had some fun!

 Thursday 

 Daddy had baseball in Parkersburg, so we had a Mommy n' Me night complete with dessert, Wreck it Ralph, and home pedicures!  (Which was a feat in and of itself given the size of my belly lately!)

 

Friday

A trip to the library for new books was how we spent our morning, plus a nice walk around town to drop off some of the Reese's Cheesecake Bars we made the night before- the recipe made so many!  Friday night Papa and Grandma Brown drove up with Uncle Heath and Aunt Alice to join us while we watched the Trojans take on East Marshall.

 

Saturday

Saturday Jerod's parents renewed their wedding vows and celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary.  We then headed back to their homestead to hang out.  Cailyn loved looking at the cows, but when Papa Bret took her out to see them firsthand she head one bellow and immediately wanted Mommy and Daddy.

 

Sunday

Sunday was full of a whole lotta cleanin'.  I'm pretty sure I'm not nesting yet- just super annoyed with how crazy messy my bathroom drawers and under-the-sink storage looked.  Now, I feel much better- you wouldn't believe how many unused or half-used bottles of scented lotion and body spray I got rid of.  I was so proud of myself for thinking of using my hair clamps as cord clamps when my appliances are being stored!  I always need one when I'm using a curling iron or the straightener and that way I can use it and then put right away- love!

Monday

I bought some detangling spray for doing Cailyn's hair and it works so great- plus, it leaves a smidge of product in that makes her curls look so adorable!  We also filled up our inflatable pool on Monday....still trying to figure out the pool maintenance part.  We don't want to have to change the water every other day or for our gal to be swimming in bacteria and ickies, so we're looking in to how to chlorinate the water to help keep it cleaner.

Tuesday

After a trip to Ames we  went for a wade in the pool, had a picnic lunch outside on the patio, and rested up for a night of Trojan baseball.  Cailyn had lots of friends to play with: some elementary girls whose brothers play baseball and Liam, our friends Ashley and Erik's son.  She loves him!

Wednesday

I realized when Cailyn and I got home last night, that we had left a beach towel on the floor...the same beach towel she ate a popsicle on before we left.  I looked a little closer and noticed tiny little ants crawling on the towel....and the carpet, augh!  That, combined with a mouse issue we have been having, has had me feeling the heebie jeebies as I walk around my own house.  So, after vacuuming like a madwoman at 9:45 last night I spent this morning spraying around windows, doors, nooks, and crannies to ward off any more creepy crawly bugs and put down MORE glue traps and some well-placed mouse poison.  Happily, though, I was able to snip some of my peonies!  I wanted these flowers for our wedding, but of course they would be out of season and have to be imported...muy muy expensive!

 

Thanks for stopping by for Summer Vacay Dailies!  We'll have more next week!

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Anyone Pinterested in Reese's Cheesecake Brownies?

I crack myself up! 

But seriously people, this recipe was DE.licious.  I found it on Pinterest, but I won't make you spend an extra three minutes looking for it on there- because if you're like me three minutes is impossible, it inevitably turns in to at least 30 minutes.  Am I right?!  So as not to put you through the torture of pinning a million more things you'll probably never actually get to- CLICK HERE for this Best-thing-since-peanut-butter-cups-alone recipe.  And for your viewing pleasure, I'll also include some photos of our baking process.  We had some time to kill last Thursday since Jerod was at a ball game in Parkersburg and didn't get home until almost 1:00 in the morning, and Mommy had a sweet tooth.  Sounds like the perfect recipe for Redbox movies and dessert!

This little girl is quickly becoming very helpful and I love that she is interested in helping (or "happing" as she would put it).  She grows before my eyes and I can't even begin to say how lucky I am to have her for a daughter- plus, she LOVES to cook which tells me we will have much for kitchen fun in the future!

First, the brownie batter made according to the directions on the box

Next, lick the spoon clean so that we can mix up the peanut butter cheesecake layer (We used a different spatula for that ectually, not because I cared about germs- because she was taking FOR-EV-ER to eat the batter off the spoon!)

Mix up the peanut butter, one can of sweetened condensed milk, and 8 ounces of softened cream cheese and spread over brownie batter.  I had to make sure and push it from the center toward the edges, I didn't want all the cheesecake in the middle of the pan

Bake for 40 minutes at 350 degrees, cool for 30 minutes on a cooling rack, and 30 more minutes in the fridge- we took this opportunity to watch Wreck It Ralph, which was so good!  I definitely cried... I also refrigerated my peanut butter cups at this time so that they would be easier to chop up.  Next, melt the chocolate chips and whipping cream together and spread on top of the cooled pan of cheesecake brownies.  I will say that I don't think you need the whipping cream, just melt the chips by themselves, mine got all clumpy and I had to kind of spread out the globs and pat them over the top.  Then, sprinkle on your chopped peanut butter cups- the recipe calls for 12, but I used 16 and I got my packages of 8 cups each from ALDI for $1.29 a package.  Then, I chilled it for a bit longer to set the candy and chocolate topping.

We then enjoyed every morsel in every layer- and some of those morsels may have been retrieved from the kitchen floor since this is NOT a dainty dessert- but in this house we believe in the 5-second rule, or in Cailyn's case, the 2 day rule...yeah, it's been known to happen...

I hope you have as much fun making this dessert with your loved ones as we did.  I think it makes food taste so much better when you can link it to some quality time with people you care about!

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Let Summer Vacay Begin!

My summer break officially began at 4:00 on Monday, June 3rd, and I couldn't be more grateful for several weeks to relax and enjoy my time however I see fit!  So, my idea is that every day of Summer vacation I will take a picture or two of what we were up to that day and then put them together into weekly Summer Vacay posts.  I think it will be a great way to document our summer: the fun, the bland, and the home-renovating-dirty.  I don't have a full week yet, but we've had two and a half days and it's been as restful as an entire week off!

We must have read at least 6 books 2-3 times each after I got home from work on Monday, I would read it first on one couch and then Cailyn would run over to Jerod sitting on the other couch and say, "Da-yee, Da-yee!  Book?"

The morning of our first day of Summer vacation together we had some good times baking more banana bread- my freezer is finally free of old frozen bananas!  Cailyn was under the impression that the thing out bread was missing was a little grape KoolAid.

This picture is of such terrible quality, I apologize.  I took it with my phone because I stupidly left my camera at home.  I thought the blurriness was because of the light exposure in the mall, but after getting home I notice someone's tiny smudgy little fingerprint on the camera lens of my phone.  We went to Jordan Creek and Cailyn got her fair share of time in on the play place.  I always said I would never let my kids play on those germ-infested climbing monstrosities, but after having a child that is so active I understand why parents let their kids loose on them.  I had to keep stifling the teacher in me- as you can see from this photo, most of the children do not play appropriately on the climbers and several were too big to be in the area.  Cailyn made me proud when she was getting ready to slide down a slide and another child started climbing up, "No, no," she said, and told the child off in gibberish pointing to the stairs to climb up to the top of the slide!

My special treat was a trip to Sephora to pick out new eyeshadow!  The bonus was that I found two on clearance so I only paid full price for one, they're totally worth full price, but who wants to pay full price?!

I will try to do a Summer Vacay post every Wednesdsay- it seems that's the only night we don't have baseball games this season, so I have time while Jerod is at practice and Cailyn is a-snooze.  Let's hope I can keep up with my crazy idea!

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First Ever Photo Dump!

I've never done this before, usually I try to have a theme for a post or make it seem like there is one.  However, I just realized I had pictures all the way back from Easter that I still haven't posted!  So here you go, our first ever photo dump, which I'm sure is only the first of many, haha!

All showered and dressed up for Easter Sunday Mass- two thirds of this outfit would be shed before eating Easter dinner at noon :)

Hunting for Easter eggs for the first time- she totally didn't get why she was looking for them, but loved the treats she had inside!  I believe the Easter Bunny brought bracelets, goldfish crackers, M&M's, jelly beans, and new crayons.

Snugging up with Grandma Deb

This girl loooooves to color!  She loves crayons and colored pencils and will color with them anywhere- literally.  We have learned how to get crayon off of window trim, carpets, walls, grout, etc....  She also has a forbidden love with markers- I don't think I need to elaborate on why they it's forbidden.

Toward the beginning of April Cailyn decided she wanted to start sitting on the potty.  We made a huge deal out of every time she went on the toilet and clapped and danced, whooped and hollered!  She has an accident every now and then, but is usually dry through naps and even overnight.  I can't believe how big she's getting!

Our roller coaster of a Spring brought us some beautiful popsicle-perfect weather

We also suffered our first skinned knees, each on a separate occasion within 36 hours of each other.  Cailyn now slightly understands what a "boo-boo" is.

This was May 2, I really wanted a picture of her dimples and sparkling eyes next to my tulips in the bizarre snow- she was only interested in the fact that there was snow on the ground.  I took at least 20 pictures and every one of them looked like this, just jumping in the snow

We made a one day trip to Sioux City a few weeks ago and these attempts were made right before we left at about 8:30.  It had been a long day for all three of us....plus I'm pretty sure she was pulled away from an iPad to take this picture.

Jerod's mom came up for a couple days this past week and hung out with Cailyn.  Of course, Cailyn loved having her there and they did a lot together: walked to the park, checked out the library, visited Daddy at work, and colored pictures.  Here, they were making banana bread- it was messy, but they both had a blast :)

Uncle Tanner came up with Papa Bret to pick up Grandma- notice he's holding an iPad...I rest my case.

We have had the opportunity to babysit our friends' son who is 7 months old and Cailyn LOVES him!  This warms my heart because I know she is going to be such a good big sister.  Hopefully there's no such thing as smothering your baby brother with too much love!

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