Yippie...its my 100th Post

I cannot believe that I have reached my 100Th post already. This means that I have already shared 100 moments that were particularly special to me...and I can’t wait to share hundreds more. Blogging has been such a fun experience for me...and I have met and gotten to know some WONDERFUL people because of it. Reading all the different blogs is just as fun...if not more fun than posting my own. There are so many blogs and they are all connected like one big web. Its so fun to get a special peek inside people’s lives to see what they have been up to, and whats important to them. So with all that said...let the 100Th post begin. First off I have 2 recipes that I would like to share with you. The holidays are quickly approaching and these are 2 of my FAVORITES. The first one I will share is: Pistachio Cake

This cake is so yummy and it’s a very festive green color too which makes it perfect for mini-holiday cakes to give to your family, friends, teachers and so on.

Ingredients 1 package (18-1/4 ounces) yellow cake mix NO PUDDING IN THE MIX 2 packages (3.4 ounces each) instant pistachio pudding mix 1 cup water 4 eggs 3/4 cup vegetable oil

GLAZE: 1 cup confectioners' sugar 1 tablespoon butter, softened 2 to 3 tablespoons milk

Directions In a large bowl, combine the cake mix, pudding mixes, water, eggs and oil; beat on low speed for 30 seconds. Beat on medium for 2 minutes. Pour into a greased and floured 10-in. fluted tube pan. Bake at 350° for 60-70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack to cool completely. In small bowl, combine the glaze ingredients, adding enough milk to reach desired consistency. Drizzle over cake.

I am making this cake tonight for a Halloween get-together…and to be really festive I am adding food coloring to make my drizzle icing orange! I hope it turns out! Serve this cake for dessert or serve it for breakfast with a nice hot cup of coffee…sigh…so delish!

The next dish I want to share is Mama’s Mud Pie. She has been making this dessert around the holiday’s for years…and its everyone’s favorite, So much so…that I usually NEVER get a piece for myself. This is what I chose to serve up for the coach’s this week…and I think my hubby was more than pleased. I have never made it before, but my Mom was right when she said “Its pretty hard to mess this one up!” I do suggest you make this one for the family…they will love you for it. Sorry, I forgot to take a picture of this one...and I don't like the ones on the Internet...they just don't do it justice.

Directions:

1st LAYER: 1 1/2 c. flour1 1/2 sticks butter 1/2 c. finely chopped pecans

2ND LAYER: 1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese 1 c. powdered sugar 2 c. Cool Whip

3RD LAYER: 2 (3 oz.) pkgs. instant pudding (chocolate/vanilla) 3 c. cold milk

4TH LAYER: 1 lg. carton Cool Whip (minus the 2 c. used for 2ND layer) Directions:

Mix flour and butter and press into bottom of 9 x 13 inch pan. Bake 20 minutes at 325 degrees. Cool completely.

Mix cream cheese, powdered sugar and 2 cups Cool Whip with mix and spread over cooled crust. Refrigerate.

Mix pudding mix with milk and pour over cream cheese layer. Cover top with remaining Cool Whip.

Decorate with shaved chocolate or sprinkles, finely chopped pecans or toasted coconut. Refrigerate.

There you have it...2 of my FAVORITE dessert dishes...I hope they make you and your family smile too.

Jolea has a big night tonight…First it’s off to Mema and Pepa’s house with cousin Ava, then we are heading to Trunk-or-Treat, then it’s off to The Schlentz’s house for some fun door-to-door Trick-or-Treating! I’m sure she will be plum worn out and I bet that Mommy and Daddy will be too.

This afternoon before we made a trip to WalMart, Jolea was sweet enough to let me get some pictures...

I cant wait to get pictures of Jolea and all the other kids tonight all dressed up in their costumes! I hope she is as excited to wear her pink poodle costume tonite...as she was the other day...I guess we will have to wait and see. Today has turned out to be a "BOO"tiful day (ha ha) and I hope the weather continues to cooperate for all the Trick or Treaters tonight.

Happy Halloween to everyone out there...I hope you are having a SPOOKtacular day.

~Till Next Time~

Giving Thanks...

Thanks to Ashley Phillips and her AWESOME work...I was able to give my blog a much needed picture makeover! We always have our pictures made around the time of Jolea's birthday...and I can always count on Ashley to do a GREAT job. What a difference a year makes...while watching this little girl grow up. This year, Jolea was an exceptionally difficult client...but you would never be able to tell it from the images she managed to capture. I have posted just a few of my favorites...and I cant wait to see what kind of design she whips up for our family Christmas card this year. Since the Halloween holiday has almost come and gone...I needed a traditional Fall theme that would carry me through Thanksgiving Day...then it will be time for a SUPER FUN and FESTIVE Christmas layout! Fun Fun Fun...its my favorite time of the year...and we have BIG plans for the holiday's this year...but I will share more about that later.

The Perfect Poodle...

1 dog in the house is plenty for me...but if I stumbled across this sweet little poodle at any shelter or on the side of the road I would have to bring her home with me!

Isn't she the cutest thing you have EVER seen? (okay I am a bit partial...but she is my kid...so I can be!) This is Jolea's costume for the costume parade at her Mother's Day Out tomorrow. This isn't the costume I had originally intended for her to wear...but considering the cool West Texas weather that we have been having...I think it will work best for this year. Grammy bought her the most ADORABLE costume off of Ebay...but it has a tutu that she has to wear...and she is SO NOT all about the frilly business. So I will play it by ear...she might wear it...she might not, but either way we have this sweet poodle costume that we can rely on.

Ruff Ruff...

Front View...

Back view...look at that little poodle toosh...

Hello? Is anyone there? Trick Or Treat...

Canine Love...XOXO

Like Father...Like Daughter

Mommy and Poodle...

Daddy and Poodle...

Well after all was said and done...this little poodle has become very GRUMPY...so its off to the groomers for a bath and then into the kennel for bedtime.

Princess Party Pants...Turns 2

Oh the difference a year makes...here is Jolea as a newborn

Jolea at her 1 year birthday party...

Jolea at her 2nd birthday party...

Oh Boy...what a fun weekend and what a fun party. I love the way the whole thing turned out and I am so Thankful for all the family and friends that were there to make this day so SPECIAL. Jolea got so many new things...I don't know if I will ever find a place to put everything. I think she was really overwhelmed with everything that was going on, and despite a short morning nap, and feeling really icky...she was such a good girl. I don't know if she had a little stomach bug or what...but she was quiet as a mouse most of the day...and then started having really yucky diapers one after the other the later the day got. Bless her heart! I have decided that I am probably going to be one of those over-the-top birthday Mom's, that I NEVER thought I would be. Its her ONE special day out of a 365 day year to feel like she is a total princess. Sure, birthday party's are expensive and exhausting, but the smiles and sweet giggles make it all worthwhile. I guess I had better start planning next year's party starting now...so I don't run out of time or money! I wanted to share a few of my favorite photos from the party...but I'm disappointed because most of my pictures of Jolea were taken by Grammy...so I don't have them uploaded to my computer yet. I guess I will have to share those in a later post. A little gift wrapping eye-candy...I'm obsessed with pretty packages

I posted this darling mannequin a few months ago...but I decided on a different tutu and different ribbon...what do you think? I really thought it turned out cute.

She found her home at "The Center of Attention" on the cake, cupcake and cookie table! The Gerber daisy's are from our wedding. My best friends mother was my coordinator! I climbed into the attic...dusted those babies off, re-wrapped it with Zebra ribbon...and Ba-Boom...instant cuteness.

Remember the cupcake picks I designed? Well here they are in all their glory...and get this it cost me a total of about 5 dollars to make them myself instead of paying 20 to 30 dollars on the Internet.

I ordered the cake and the cupcakes from United...the lady I visited with one afternoon was so nice and so helpful that I wanted her to get my business. It turned out "OK"...I was a little disappointed with the smeared black icing inside the zebra design...but hey that's a tiny detail...right? I tried to do EVERYTHING I could to make sure she knew EXACTLY what I was expecting in terms of the cake. I printed a picture off of the Internet and I even provided a zebra stencil so she could airbrush the design. I purchased a much smaller cake at a much larger price last year...and I was VERY VERY disappointed with it, so I wanted to make sure that didn't happen this time! Overall...I was pleased...and it tasted good too.

Do you remember the zebra print letters that I did to spell out Jolea? Well...it took me forever to come up with an idea of how I was going to display them at the party. If I had to do it all over again I would use much smaller letters instead. I already had these letters from her old nursery...and didn't want to go out and spend money on new ones...so I had to make due. Below is the process I used to come up with the cute little pots that I made to proudly display her name.

(click to enlarge)

This is how they ended up...

Of course no party is complete without balloons...especially this one...because they are one of Jolea's favorite things to look at and play with. The bouquet came from Card and Party...but they didn't have any mylar balloons that would match the theme. I got lucky at the Dollar Tree and stumbled across solid colored star-shaped mylar balloons. I bought 2 whites and 2 blacks...they worked like a charm...and added a little sparkle too.

Presents...Presents...Presents...and a SPECIAL THANK YOU to all of those who came and played such a special role in this little girls birthday celebration.

This is the darling little basket that my friend Whitney was kind enough to let me borrow. Her daughter who is 1 used this theme too...so she was happy to lend me some party goods...and I am so glad she did...cause it turned out great. I filled the goody bags with "girly" things and candy of course, but this was the hardest thing about the whole party. Someday when she is a little older, we can do a craft or something that will serve as a party favor...but until then...its candy and junk...there is just no way around it! I did think it was clever to add in those Little Debbie Zebra cakes that you see at the grocery store too. If you look close at other pictures of the cake table, you will see a zebra runner...well Whitney let me borrow this too. It was a long slender piece of fabric, that was perfect for a rectangular table, but since I was using round, I folded it up and used it as a runner right down the middle.

Here is an up close shot of the table...and the funky paper lanterns that I hung from the chandelier. The best thing about these is that they were practically free @ .37 cents each from Michael's. Too bad I didn't have some black ones to throw in the mix.

At the end of the day...I was dead-beat tired...and so was my little girl. She fell asleep in Grammy's bed at 7 o'clock. It was such a special day to celebrate such a special life...and I am so Blessed to be her Mommy. I know this year will fly right by...and I will be planning birthday # 3 before I know it.

Happy Birthday Angel Of Mine...

Happy Birthday to You....

Happy Birthday to You....

Happy Birthday dear Sweet Jolea...

Happy Birthday to You.

I seriously cannot believe that my BABY GIRL, Jolea Dru Ward, is two years old today!!!! I can close my eyes and go back to the very moment I first held her in my arms. How tiny she was...and how adorable she was. She didn't look like most newborns with mushed features and coneheads. She was smooth skinned and perfect. Jolea was born at 12:29 (a.m.) on Tuesday, October 23rd via c-section after and incredibly long day of labor. She was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen, and she has been a joy in my life every day since. Happy Birthday sweet Girl.

It has been the greatest joy in mine and Andy's life to be parents to this little girl. It hasn't been the easiest thing we have ever done, that is for sure, but it is by far the MOST rewarding job we have ever done. Our love for her runs deeper than any ocean ever could and all the way to the moon and back. It's actually difficult to describe the love I have for this little girl being her momma...the words really just aren't enough. I have so many hopes and dreams for her...I pray that her life is abundantly blessed and that she always remains in the grips of God's grace. I found this sweet little poem on the Internet...and I wanted it to be a part of this post.

A two year old is so many things.

A tiny discoverer of butterfly wings.

A hugger of teddies, a sweet sleepy head.

And someone to dream for in bright years ahead.

A special new person who right from the start,

has a place in the family and a coarse in your heart.

And just when you think you've learned all the things,

That your dear daughter is, and the joy that she brings,

A hug or a grin comes with such a sweet surprise,

That love finds you smiling with tears in your eyes.

What a special day it is for me personally and everyone in our family...the day we got meet our Jolea Dru...and the day the greatest adventure we have ever been on began.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY...YOUR MOMMA AND DADDY LOVE YOU SO MUCH! (more pics to come later...but these are a few of my favorites for now)

BUSY BUSY BUSY Weekend...

I've decided...I need a clone! There aren't enough hours in the day nor is there enough "me" to get it all done. I have a "bad" attitude...I know...but somethings gotta give. School is keeping me up past 1 AM on a regular basis and I have started walking around here like a zombie...just going through the motions. Even when I do crawl into bed a few minutes before midnight, my mind is still in TURBO mode and I cant go to sleep anyway. Right now is a perfect example. Its 12:06 AM, and I just got done with my homework, wrapping Jolea's birthday gifts, finishing the cupcake picks and I am FINALLY on to doing a blog post about the weekend. Enough said...don't have long to chat. This past weekend was full of FUN stuff for my sweet Punky. Saturday morning we got out of bed and spent the morning being lazy and silly. Then we got dressed and headed to the McMurry Tipi Village. Grammy and Poppy were in the neighborhood and decided to come with us. We were a little disappointed with our visit. Tipi Village was abandoned and VERY quiet. We walked around...looked at everything...then headed out to the Pumpkin Patch instead. Jolea looked so festive in her sweet Baby Gap Bargain...and we got lots of compliments about how "fall-ish" she looked. It was just Mom and daughter of course...cause Daddy had to work :( These are some of my favorite shots of our afternoon together. Jolea was such a good girl we even had lunch together at Wendy's and made a little dash to Ross for some shopping too. I was one Proud Mama!

Its already Wednesday technically...and I have a busy day ahead of me. I still need to order the cake and the balloons for the party on Saturday. Everything is coming together perfectly (which is kinda scary) and I cant wait to post all about it later next week. I CANNOT believe that I will be singing Happy Birthday to my sweet 2 year-old baby girl on Friday. Where has the time gone?We have company coming in this weekend and since I am a "clean house" Nazi...I guess I had better get that done too. The coming days will be jam packed full of fun, but I will have some SERIOUS homework come Sunday. I have a major project that is due by Monday afternoon...and lets say I am still working on it! Ugh!

Sweet Treat Thursday...

Today is Thursday...again...and that means treats for the coach's. This week I decided on Soapapilla Cheesecake. It happens to be Andy's favorite...so I know he is on board! I found the recipe from this sweet little blog (listed below). I am ALWAYS on the look-out for fun easy dishes to make. I am still a rookie in the kitchen, but I am really getting better and more brave too! Just for kicks I thought I would provide you with the recipe. Pair these little cuties with a warm cup of coffee...and Oh My...what a beautiful way to start your morning.

Soapapilla Cheesecake by realmomkitchen.blogspot.com

2 cans Pillsbury Crescent rolls

2-8oz Cream Cheese (room temperature)

1 1/2 cups Sugar

1 tsp. Vanilla extract

1 tsp Cinnamon

1 stick butter (1/2 cup real butter not margarine)

Spray a 9 x 13 pan with cooking spray. Unroll and press 1 can crescent rolls into the bottom of your baking dish press the seams together. In a separate bowl blend the cream cheese, 1 cup sugar and 1 tsp vanilla (Tina used a tsp and a half, because she loves vanilla extract. I think it would be fun to try other extracts like almond extract) spread over top of dough. Unroll the second can of crescent rolls and place on top of the cream cheese mixture pressing seams together again. Melt butter and pour over top layer of crescents. Mix the reaming 1/2 cup of sugar & cinnamon together. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar mixture generously over the top. If you don't think that's enough cinnamon sugar on top add more its really up to you there's no rules on this part of the recipe. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes until bubbly and bottom crust is slightly brown. Cool, slice and enjoy!

Remember this?

I told you about the leftover fabric from Jolea's nursery that I had a vision for. The shelf was one of my 1/2 price bargains at the Dittos sale...and get this...when I flipped it over I found a precious little Pottery Barn sticker on the back! 6 dollars...WOW...what a steal. Now it looks like this...

It turned out cute and it was oh-so-easy. Now I have a place for all of Jolea's MDO papers and art work to display. She really likes it when I take something out of her backpack and pin it on her board...and so does Mommy. (a special THANKS to my handy man hubby...who HATES hanging things)

These are just a few random shots of my little Einstein baby...look at that hair would ya? We were just out of the bath and she was being a really silly girl!

This weekend should be paved with LOTS of birthday party preparations, homework and housework...then before I know it, it will be Monday again. I am so READY for a break...so bring on the holidays!

Family Pics...Monday Night Double Date and Birthday Loot

Sunday was "Family Picture" day. I am going to let you guess how good my daughter was while we were getting out pictures made...Any Guesses? Well allow me to fill you in...TERRIBLE! She was whiny and mad the whole entire 45 minutes we were there. We had to bribe her into smiling and being still with little pieces of candy...and even that did work for long. She was unusually crabby...which I should have known would be the case.Let me just say that Ashley Phillips is a wonder woman because I have already seen the proofs and she managed to get some really great shots even though she was dealing with a really MOODY client. Way to go Ashley! Might I add...if you EVER need a professional photographer, you must go and look at her work. She is VERY talented and she is so reasonably priced for such AMAZING work. Go check her out at http://www.ashleyphillipsphoto.com/.

"Thanks Ashley for all your hard work on Sunday!"

Woo Hoo...we got to go out...even if it was on a Monday night! Grammy kept the princess which meant we were 2 free spirits just looking for a good time...and we found it...in the company of Bren and James (my cousin and her BF) and the movie Couples Retreat!!!

Kinda "Raunchy" but I did do some serious laughing...and we all know laughing is good for the soul. We always have such a good time with Bren and James and I am glad we got to go on a double date with them. We had Chili's for supper before the movie...and it was yummy.

Speaking of birthday...I wanted to share all the wonderful things I got this year. Mom and Dad knocked it out of the park with this DELICIOUS scent from Victoria's Secret...which by the way is the Scent of the Year! Its called Noir: Sexy Little Things...and I LOVE it. My Dad gave me a nice crisp 100 dollar bill...woo hoo! Oh the things a girl can do with a hundred dollars...but too bad for this girl without a job...looks like it will be buying next weeks groceries :)

Stacy, my mother-in-law also knows how to make a girl feel special! She sent me a hilarious birthday card with another 50 dollars! Woo Hoo...the water bill! My Mema was kind enough to send me another 20 dollars...that should do a nice little ditty on the gas bill:) Just kidding...I have no idea what to do with all the money...and I THANK YOU all from the bottom of my heart for being so kind to me.

I have to admit...I lied...I knew exactly what to do with some of that money! I went out and bought me this...

Its a great little "blingy" pendant from Friendze. I have been wanting something along these lines for a while now, and this one was very reasonably priced...under 12 dollars and its got a clip so I can change it out on different necklaces! I think its really cute.

I logged into my facebook account for the first time in FOREVER and I had 39 new messages...ALL birthday wishes! I didn't even know I had so many friends...and it sure did make me feel all giddy inside. Thank you for all the text messages, emails, greeting cards and phone calls from all you WONDERFUL people. I had a GREAT day.

Now its Wednesday...already, and the week is coming to a close starting tomorrow. Tonite I made a new chicken spaghetti dish and we are anxiously waiting for it to finish cooking. If it turns out to be a keeper...maybe I will share it with you. We are looking forward to the Tipi Village on Friday with some new friends from Mothers Day Out...should be a good time.