Zoo Days

Lions and Tigers and Bears?
No thanks! 
My kid would rather spend 20 minutes playing on the out of order quarter machine!

My husband captioned this photo as "Takin' a Dump in the Dump Truck" LOL!!!

A close second to the Dump Truck was the Merry Go Round. 

Landon was also very intrigued by the Reptile House and the Flamingos.

I especially love this picture because I don't have too many pics of me and The Wombat. A many thanks to my good friend Paula for capturing this moment :)

Lots more trips to the zoo in store for us as my parents just got us season passes!  Woot Woot!  Maybe next time we'll actually get some pics of the animals!

DIY Cake Stand

Wish I could take credit for this FABULOUS idea that I found on Pinterest, which led my back to this cute lil tutorial over at The Happy Housewife.

Lucky for me my mom had dropped off all sorts of odds and ends for a garage sale I had last summer and I tucked some of the mismatched candlesticks away for future use. I had no idea what I was going to use them for until I came across this genius idea and just in time for Landon's birthday too!              

I wanted a tiered look so I chose two candlesticks of different height and spray painted them.  I found the plates at Target, which ended up being super convenient because their logo is already centered on the bottom of the plate.  You know exactly where to glue :)

And here ya go! Easy peasy cake stands!!

Linkin' up:

I Heart Nap TIme
At Home With K
Kammy's Korner
A Turtle's Life For Me
The 36th Avenue
Marriage From Scratch
A Diamond in the Stuff
Whipperberry

Happy Birthday to ME

My birthday was yesterday but festivities started two days ago when my little sisters showed up on my doorstep, unannounced.  Landon and I had just gotten home from the park and were in the middle of lunch when the doorbell rang.  When I looked through the peephole all I could see was a present being held up against my door.  My jaw hit the floor when it turned out to be my sisters, who live three hours away.  And they brought me things like Swedish Fish, tights, whole bean coffee, bubble bath, earrings, and CAKE. German Chocolate cake surrounded by cake pops.  Ummmmm, yeah I think they have me figured out :)

{Landon did NOT want his picture taken!!}

Then my parents showed up (this one was planned) because they were here to watch my child OVERNIGHT while me and the hubs had our first ever night away from The Wombat.  We stayed at a cute little Bed and Breakfast.  The room we stayed in was called Refresh. 

{via}

There were Shari's Berries waiting for us when we arrived.  We got dressed up and went out to dinner.  We took our time eating.  We watched a movie from start to finish with the volume set on something we didn't need to strain our ears to hear for fear of waking the babe.  I slept for TEN straight hours.  I woke up and got to stay IN bed instead of jumping out to the sound of "mamamamamama" (or crying) coming from Landon's room.   We had breakfast in bed.  I took two bubble baths in that delightful jetted tub - going to need one of those in our next house.

It was exactly the sort of break I needed after being a SAHM for almost a year now.  I feel very refreshed,  and ready to see what adventures this year of my life has in store for me.   I'm guessing it will include many, MANY trips to the zoo via our new season passes courtesy of my parents :)

Bedtime Stories

We like to read at our house. LOVE to, actually. Reading to Landon before bed is already a night time ritual.  He loves to put his finger in every singe caterpillar bite. He loves turning the pages. He loves pointing to the pictures. Sometimes he can't get enough, other times he would rather chew on the pages.  By reading we are instilling a curiosity which will hopefully grow into a lifelong love for books.


My parents always read to me.  C.S. Lewis, L.M. Montgomery, Laura Ingalls Wilder, all of the classics and then some. My dad even managed to rope me into some Hardy Boys novels (even though Nancy Drew was clearly the superior sleuth). In the sixth grade I went through a random western phase when I stumbled upon my dad's complete collection of Louis L'amour's.  I read every.single.one. I was the kid who got in trouble for staying up past bed time reading.  Nerd, I know.

Now I am 26 years old and my book craving has not subsided in the least.  I read anything and everything sent my way.  And my parents are still feeding my literary appetite.  I get books for Christmas, books when they visit, books when my dad cleans out his car.

I really hope to influence Landon this same way: to encourage, to inspire, to ignite a love for reading.

Here is a list of our current favorite board books:

The Very Hungry Caterpillar - Eric Carle

Brown Bear, Brown Bear - Eric Carle

Goodnight Moon - Margaret Wise Brown

Gossie & Gertie - Olivier Dunrea

Sometimes I like to Curl up in a Ball - Vicki Churchill

Clip Clop - Nicola Smee

The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry and The Big Hungry Bear - Don and Audrey Wood

What are some of your favorite children's books?

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Our Valentine's Day

I hope everyone had a fabulous Valentine's Day!!!  I was so glad it landed on a Tuesday this year (my hubby has Monday/Tuesdays off).  Soooo  Ben gave me the best present you can possibly give a mother of a teething baby: SLEEP. 

When I finally rolled out of bed I woke up to a Valentine's Day card and these:

Then we headed off to a late breakfast at The Tower Cafe.  They are not exaggerating with their World Famous French Toast claims.  To. Die. For.

Then we let The Wombat get some wiggles out at a nearby play area.

Even Landon got a Valentine from his little friend Taryn :)  SO CUTE!

Hope everyone had a wonderful heart filled day!

Valentine's Day Cookies

It was suggested in a comment on my Peanut Butter Blossom cookie post that I use a chocolate heart in the center instead of a Kiss for Valentine's Day.  OMG, how did I miss this on Pinterest?  I immediately started looking for another cookie recipe to try out this idea.  In the end, I made a couple adjustments to another recipe out of my Hershey's dessert book.  I've yet to make anything out of there that I haven't devoured while they were still cooling loved.

In my quest to find heart shaped chocolates I went with the Reese's Hearts because ONE: They were cheaper and TWO: In my house, no recipe fails if it involves peanut butter.

Okay! Onto the actual recipe:

1 Cup Butter
1/2 Cup Granulated Sugar
1 Teaspoon Vanilla
1 3/4 Cups All Purpose Flour
1/2 Cup Chopped Almonds
Reese's Hearts (or chocolate of your choice)

Heat oven to 375 F.  Beat butter, sugar and vanilla in large bowl until fluffy.  Add flour and walnuts and beat until well blended.  Roll into one inch cookie dough balls and place on ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake for 10-12 minutes.  Immediately remove cookies from cookie sheet and garnish with your chocolate.

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Gift Wrapping with Crepe Paper

I've been gift wrapping for my sissy's shower  :)

I still had ample amount of crepe paper left over from the chalkboards so I made a flower to decorate the top of her present. It was inspired by a previous craft night project over at my friend and fellow blogger Melissa's house.

 Cut the crepe paper into small sections and cut one side into a top of a heart shape.

Then just glue around in circles, scrunch together and overlap them to get a more flowery look. Do not be discouraged about how sad looking the first layer is, I promise it will look better by the end.

Ta-Da! Happy present wrapping!!!

Linking to:
The 36th Avenue
Crafty, Scrappy, Happy
Marriage From Scratch
Whipperberry
One Artsy Mama
At Home With K
A Diamond in the Stuff
A Turtle's Life For Me
Tatertots and Jello
I Heart Nap Time

Peanut Butter Blossoms

I love PB&C (chocolate) cookies!!! I got this recipe out of my Hershey's cookbook and it rocks.  I also usually make them back to back because one bag of Kisses equals two batches (even with me sneaking a few on the side).

Ingredients:

Hershey's Kisses
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup shortening (I use the butter kind, it's sinful, I know)
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (I use unbleached)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Instructions:

1. Heat oven to 375.

2. Beat peanut butter and shortening with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended.  Add sugars and beat until fluffy.  Add egg, milk and vanilla, beat well.  Mix flour, baking soda and salt together in a separate bowl.  Slowly add this to your peanut butter mixture.

3.  Shape dough into 1 inch balls.  Roll in additional granulated sugar and place on ungreased cookie sheet.

4.  Bake 8-10 minutes.  While waiting for cookies to bake, unwrap your Kisses.  IMMEDIATELY press a chocolate into center of each cookie once removed from oven.  Remove to wire racks and let cool!

Enjoy!!!