My birthday and the days past...........

The past weekend has been a typical crazy one.   Last week was my 31st birthday.  We went to Ryan's parents house for dinner and watched everyone swim.  We had a big party for Ryan's brother who finished grad school this summer. All of his family was in and it was a great weekend spent with all of them and enjoying the amazing meals that they prepare! Lauren is nearing the 12 month mark.  She and I are battling Fall allergies right now so there is a lot of wiping runny noses and saying "God bless you", after her 100th sneeze of the day.  All in all, it was a fantastic crazy week! Posting seems like the last thing that is ever on my list and I hate that!  Once I pick my camera up from the shop this week, I hope that will persuade me to post more!

 Lauren swimming with her dad and grandpa

 Doing tricks in the water with grandpa

Giveaway Time!

Liz from My Memories contacted me and wanted to know if I would like to give away one of their digital scrap booking kits for free!  They are rated #1 by Amazon and Top Ten Reviews.  Truthfully,  I was a bit hesitant because I don't scrapbook, nor do I have the time.  I also always hated to cut up my pictures to paste them in the book! Well....I'm glad I tried it out.  It is super quick, no cutting necessary, and you aren't limited to the typical scrapbook pages that you are used to seeing. You can even do movies with this program in addition to photo books, cards, party favors labels, baby announcements, birthday party invites, and the list goes on and on. Hello!! It's an amazing tool to have! I have tons and tons of recipes that junk up my pantry shelf and this program will be able to showcase family recipes that have been passed down from each side.  I am going to upload them (super simple to convert to a jpeg doc.) and order a family recipe book for myself.  Wouldn't that be an amazing Christmas idea?     

Here is a sample of a page from the book that I made of Wren from all of the "month" pictures I have taken.  I have one more to take, month 12, tear.....and then I will send it off to be printed. It seriously took less than an hour to do 11 months. 

 

Here is the recipe page I made with an actually family recipe card. Isn't that neat?

So here is the deal Lucille ...I am giving this digital scrapbooking software away to one lucky reader!  Here are the ways to enter: 3 entries per person limit

The drawing will close on September 6th at 9 pm. 

1. Go to My Memories and choose your favorite digital paper pack or layout, then come back here and leave me a comment telling which one you love!
2.  Like MyMemories Suite on Facebook  for another entry! Leave me a comment letting me know you "Liked" them.
3.  Become a follower on Martha Stewart Reject for another entry! If you are already a follower, just let me know that you are!

The second way you can get this software is by purchasing it using the exclusive coupon code for my followers!  Use the code STMMMS75495 to get a $10 discount off your purchase of My Memories Suite Scrapbook software and a $10 coupon for you to use in the MyMemories.com store!!  This coupon code doesn't expire so even if you don't win, come and use it and then share it with your friends and family!!

Hooray! It's a Giveaway!

This Friday I will be hosting a wonderful GIVEAWAY!!!!! Check back Friday morning for all of the details!!

Life at Wrap Speed..........

I've been telling everyone that this semester is kicking my butt! I am gone most days from 8 am to 9 pm and I don't get a moment in between to breath.  I don't get to spend anytime with my family with the exception on the weekends.  BUT, big but, I remember that going to grad school is a privilege and truly, I don't know that "real problems" are.  Real problems are not having enough food to feed your family or having a child or spouse terminally ill.  My whining will stop here

On a much more thankful note, we had an important event happen this week.  Lauren went to home daycare 2 times this week. Up to this point, my wonderful mother has kept Lauren 5 days a week since she was 11 weeks old. My mom needs a break!  Lauren also loves being around other children and rarely gets to, so we decided to put her in home daycare 2 days a week.  The first day she cried most of the day.  In fact, when Ryan came to pick her up, a little boy said, "Your baby sure does cry loud".  I was fully expecting a phone call saying she couldn't come back.  Much to my surprise, the second day she was tearless. Mrs. Kathy reported that she ate more than any other child she has ever kept and she is learning new signs (all involving food of course).  If anyone is still following this BORING blog, here are a few pictures from this week!

 Right before her first day of daycare.

 Getting her jewelry on for Mrs. Kathy's. 

 Trying out the new red wagon her Great Grandpa Al rebuilt for her. Her cousin happily pulling her along.

 Swingin Swingin

 Second day of Mrs. Kathy's. Very happy!

Although my life is hectic, I appreciate each and every nutso moment of it.  Thank God that I have wonderful people around me that understand the source of my craziness!

11 months......

My sweet Wren turned 11 months on the 13th of August.  Last month was full of new things and the endings of old things. She started walking at 10.5 months.  It's so fun to see her coming down the hall tip toeing along.  My mother, myself, and Wren began walking on tip toes.  I continued into adulthood and will still do it occasionally.  She is signing "eat" and "more".  When asked what a cat and dog says she replies with the meow meow or panting noise.  She has developed an "awful cold", where she will fake sneeze and cough on cue.  She is in 12-18 month clothes & size 3 diaper. She is still sleeping through the night (thank you GOD!) and will go down at 7 p.m. and will be up at 6:14 a.m. on the dot.  She will play in her bed for about 15 minutes until she tries to get our attention. She takes 3-4 naps a day.  She is quite the water bug and loves to "splash splash".  She weaned herself from breastfeeding during month 10 and refuses any form of formula.  She is doing 3 bottles of coconut milk ( not doing cow's milk and nope it doesn't taste at all like coconuts) under the advice of our pediatrician.  She eats most table food and will go to the ends of the earth for her NANAs!!! She could eat 10 bananas a day if we let her.  Most of all, my baby is becoming a little toddler.  This transformation is breaking my heart and also makes me realize just how short time really is with our children.  Ask me again if this time flying by deal is breaking my heart when she is 16. Oh and by the way, these crib shots are getting harder and harder by the month.  I believe that next month will be our last..... 

 

Chheeeeessseee

 Reflecting on the month she has had. 

 

Walking around her bed after she threw the sign out of her crib in protest.  

I'm back, well sort of.

After a brief blog hiatus due to a sick camera (still in the shop getting the barrel replaced!) and my internet constantly coming and going, thanks Frontier, I am back to blogging. I have had a WONDERFUL week off from grad school and my grad assistant-ship.  Wren and I played a lot, organized, cleaned, and those other things your supposed to do during those late summer days.  Wren started walking 2 weeks ago.  She is mobile and is all over the house.  She has gained a new independence which allows me to get away for a few moments here and there.  Here's a brief overview of the past couple of weeks from my borrowed camera!

Wren's first dinner date with our buddy Luke.  She kept wanting to grab him and kiss him.  

He wasn't fond of her for the most part. 

 Lots of swimming and drinking pool water. 

 Wren and mommy time

 Lots of brushing of her 6 teeth and yanking out hair bows which equate to the poor pitiful child look. 

 I know all you bloggers have seen the ever popular "rose cake" that's going around.  Yeah.....it doesn't fair well with fluff icing.  Although ugly, it was still edible and tasted quite good!

 Lots of walking.  Sometimes it's easier to walk without pants.

 Most importantly, taking the time to stop and smell the flowers.  

This is something Wren LOVES to do.  This is of Wren and her Great Grandpa.

Friday nights

Blankey, paci-bunny, and a basket full of warm clean towels make for a good Friday night.

Spiral Pie

Just a quick post to show you the new pie I made.  Yesterday  I tried my first attempt at the spiral top pie.  At first it was ridiculously hard until I got a system going.  I had a bunch of white peaches and I wanted to use some before freezing the rest.  I think it turned out pretty well with the exception of a few mess ups. 

Broke Camera

This is why I haven't posted lately.  My camera is in the shop. No, this isn't my actual camera.  My shutter wouldn't open and close properly and left a shadow on all photos.  It's at the camera hospital for now and will hopefully be released soon. Ugh.......

I will hang this in my house.

Credit: From Babies Don’t Keep by Ruth Hulbert Hamilton

How incredibly precious is this? There are so many days when I feel like I am cleaning the house and trying to keep Wren off my heels just for a moment longer so I can bleach the counters or scrub a sink. For all you new mothers out there, 10 months has flown by in what seems to be 1 month. Put the scrub brush down and go play with your children! : ) 

Oh yeah, so the next time to come to my house and it's a wreck, you'll know why! 

Wren is 10 months!

My Wren turned double digits on Wednesday.  Our typical crib photo shoot doesn't work so well anymore because all she wants to do is jump around her bed and scratch her fingernails on the chalkboard

. 

 

 

 

The night she turned 10 months, she slept through the night!. She has continued this trend all week, fingers crossed.  

Wren, you are in 12 month clothes, 18 month swimsuit.  You are swimming almost every day.  

You are clapping your hands, shaking your head yes, dancing, playing with toys that require fine motor skills like putting your bracelets on.  You weigh 21 lbs and you are 29 inches tall. 

You are standing unassisted for a few moments at a time.  

You love Cheerios and black beans this month.  

You favorite toys are your little plastic bus and you mason jar lid ring that you use as bracelets. 

You have 5 teeth, all on the bottom!

                                                          Here she is with her favorite bracelets and necklace.  If you have noticed, my camera shutter won't open all the way.  Taking it in the shop today. 

Blueberry Crumb Cake

I had some frozen blueberries left over from last season that I wanted to use up.  I found the Barefoot Contessa's recipe from a Blueberry Crumb Cake that had excellent reviews. It was super super easy and I had all the ingredients in my pantry with the exception of the sour cream.  

This is hands down the BEST tea cake I have had. You could substitute it with any fruit.  I think a strawberry crumble cake would be wonderful  It is super moist and the next day it was still fantastic, so you can definitely make it a day ahead!

A few tips of mine: The recipe calls for room temperature eggs.  This is because eggs at room temp you can achieve the maximum volume when beating them.  Although, if you are needing to seperate the whites from the yolk, like in the Marshmallow recipe, a cold egg seperates much easier. Any who...I did not allow them to reach room temp and it still tasted fantastic.  The same with the butter needing to be room temperature.

This temperature allows the maximum amount of air to be beaten into your batter. This creaming or beating of your batter or butter and sugar creates air bubbles that your leavener (baking powder or baking soda) will enlarge during baking. I melted the butter in the microwave for about 8 seconds. So....theres your little home ec. lesson for the day. On to the recipe!!!!!!! 

Ingredients

For the streusel:

• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

For the cake:

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature (3/4 stick)
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 2/3 cup sour cream
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup fresh blueberries
• Confectioners' sugar for sprinkling

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 9-inch round baking pan.

For the streusel:

Combine the granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a bowl. Stir in the melted butter and then the flour. Mix well and set aside.

For the cake:

Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on high speed for 4 to 5 minutes, until light. Reduce the speed to low and add the eggs 1 at a time, then add the vanilla, lemon zest, and sour cream. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the batter until just combined. Fold in the blueberries and stir with a spatula to be sure the batter is completely mixed.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and spread it out with a knife. With your fingers,
crumble the topping evenly over the batter. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool completely and serve sprinkled with confectioners' sugar.

Here is my finished tea cake! It came out of the pan perfectly!!

Great photo op!

The pool is filling up!! Lauren thought the depth was pretty perfect as it was at 2 inches. 

Lots of pool pictures to come! Thanks to Papa, she will be able to model all of her swimsuits this summer!

Our Pictures are Priceless!!

Just a reminder about this awesome deal from Snapfish. You can get 99 4x6 photos for 1 cent a piece. All you have to pay is the shipping (online only).  Enter the code JULYPENNY99 at the end of your transaction to get the deal!

Just a reminder, recently my computer crashed!! All of my photos were gone. Thank goodness I had "Snapfished" most of my photos.  Right now I am camera dumping 716 photos to their site right now just to make sure that all my photos are somewhere safe!!!  Whether you prefer Shutterfly, KodakGallery, or whoever else you use, remember to upload those photos so you always have them safe and sound!!

Smores Cookies....

Compliments of My Kitchen Addiction

My Kitchen Addiction, is my newest food blog addiction. I LOVE her website!! Please stop by and try out some of her fantastic recipes! This recipe is definitely a winner. Although, (a big although), it is pretty time consuming. This recipe teaches you to make your own marshmallows and a graham cracker like cookie. I have always wanted to learn to make my own marshmallows ever since Martha introduced them in a Christmas holiday edition 2 years ago. You have to use a double boiler (you don't need to go out and buy a fancy one, you will see my adaptation) which always made me nervous! These are soooooo good, you'll have to cut them in half because they are so rich and decadent.

Here are my tips to follow her recipe:
It states to bake the cookies for 8-10 mins.
Mine came out a little too chewy in that length of time. Watch them closely and let them bake a little longer.
It states that the marshmallow creme is best used right after it cools.
Make the cookies first and while they cool make the marshmallow recipe. It hardens just like marshmallow creme does when it sits out. So spread it immediately after it cools.
Since you are pairing up the cookies, work with a round cookie cutter, a scoop, or a biscuit cutter to ensure they are evenly shaped.

Chewy Graham Cookies, from My Kitchen Addiction
(Makes approximately 3 dozen, adapted from the King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion)

For the cookie dough:

• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

For the cinnamon sugar coating:

• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet with a nonstick liner (or parchment paper) I used my Silpat, and set aside

To prepare the cookie dough, cream together the butter, sugar, brown sugar, honey, baking powder, cinnamon, vanilla, baking soda, and salt. Add the egg and beat until incorporated into the creamed mixture. Stir in the flour.

In a small bowl, stir together the sugar and cinnamon for the cinnamon sugar coating

Scoop out rounded tablespoons of the dough, shape them into balls, and roll each ball in the cinnamon sugar coating. Place each one on the prepared cookie sheet. Bake for 9-10 minutes, until the cookie is just set and slightly golden. Be careful not to overbake!

Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Wren drove over to taste test a cookie.
She said that she gives them two paci's up!

Homemade Marshmallow Fluff
(adapted from Smitten Kitchen)

This recipe will make considerably more marshmallow fluff/frosting than you will need for the cookie sandwiches, but I’d recommend making the full batch! It will keep for a few days in the fridge, and it makes for some pretty amazing fluffernuter sandwiches!

• 2 egg whites
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• Pinch of sea salt

Add about 2 inches of water in the bottom of a large saucepan. Bring to a simmer. Combine all of the ingredients in a metal mixing bowl (one that fits in the top of the saucepan without the bottom touching the water). Place the mixing bowl over the simmering water, and beat with an electric hand mixer. The mixture will gradually become fluffy and then will thicken and turn white and slightly glossy (after about 8 minutes)

Before

Remove the mixing bowl from the simmering water. Continue to beat on high for an additional minute or two. The marshmallow will thicken just a bit more. Allow the marshmallow to cool before using it or transferring to an airtight container.

After! It definitely takes all of 8 minutes to see the liquid turn into a marshmallow consistency. But once it is there, you will be so excited!

The marshmallow is best if you use it immediately, but it will keep in the fridge for 2-3 days. I piped my right away and then paired up the cookies to set, while I melted the chocolate.

Take 3 Hersheys Chocolate Bars and break them up. Using a double boiler or a fancy one like mine (a glass bowl on top of a saucepan filled with 2 inches of water) melt your chocolate.

Dip half of the cookie in the chocolate and let it harden on a bakers rack. I also took a spatula and drizzled the remaining chocolate over the whole cookie.

I can't believe that I don't have a final picture of the cookies!! Try these and let me know what you think. I promise you wont be disappointed!

Happy 4th of July (again)

It's a gloomy 4th here in my neck of the woods. I hope it's beautiful and sunny wherever you are. Here is my firecracker. She has definitely lived up to the name this weekend. She is a fireball of energy until I wrangle her into her crib. No fireworks for her just yet. If I would have kept her up that late she would be nuts! We will wait till next year.

A self taken shot of the two of us before a holiday lunch.
She never smiles anymore because she is too busy trying to grab the camera.

Spinach Pinwheels

You want an easy AMAZING appetizer recipe? Try these Spinach Pinwheels. I have seen the recipe on several sites but I modified it to my liking. I took these to a get together last night and everyone loved them!

These will take about 5 minutes to throw together. My advice is to mix up the ingredients and roll them up and let them sit in the fridge for at least 2 hours. They are so much easier to cut that way. Let me know if you love them as much as I do!

Spinach Pinwheels

2 Crescent Roll Tubes
2 blocks of cream cheese
1 cup of Feta cheese (my favorite is sun-dried tomato and herbs)
1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese
1 tsp of garlic salt

Directions:
Preheat oven for 350
Mix together all the ingredients, take half of the batch and spread it over the dough.
Repeat with the other batch.
Roll it up and store it in an airtight container for 2 hrs or more
Cut into 2 inch slices ( a serrated knife works the best)
Place on your Silpat (one of the best items in my kitchen) on a cookie sheet
Bake for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown

All rolled up after 2 hrs in the fridge

Before baking

Out of town guests

We have visitors in the neighborhood. Several neighbors have seen this family scurrying through our yards this week. We are the lucky ones because we believe they have made themselves a home in our crawl space thanks to the Mediacom man who failed to replace the cover when he left last week. Why do we think this? Our home smells like one HUGE SKUNK!!! I am soooooooooo angry!! We are going to have to call in the professionals. Does anyone around me have an air ionizer? I have read online that those do the trick. Please let me know!!!!!!!!1

Happy Friday

How about this pursed lip smile? Thats a new one....

I hope that everyone has a wonderful holiday weekend. I am going to make several fun recipes over the next few days. I will share them with you if they turn out as fabulously as promised!!
HAPPY FOURTH of JULY!!