Suprise Oregon Trip 1

In June i REALLY wanted to fly to Oregon and it just so happened i got my hands on some buddy passes and flew STANDBY- key word there!! So, with only telling 2 people i was coming ( my best friend and hair dresser, wanted to make sure we could get an appt ) we flew there, leaving Atlanta at 6. We got on BOTH flights there- here is part 1 of the trip in pictures

*On the FIRST flight to Denver*

*Mini Me and her BEST friend in Oregon, we'll call her Blondie- when they get together, there is MISCHIEF that goes on! Reminds me of me and my Bestie at that age*


*Lil Mufin enjoying Bampa's backyard*


*Bampa and me time while grilling burgers*

*Amie and I- little story to THIS night. We went to a comedy show- that night ended up being a NUDE parade, with police escorts, im NOT lyin.. THOUSANDS of nude people riding their bikes!it was like a trainwreck--- yes, i have pics.. no i wont post it would burn your eyes, lol. but really.. only on the West coast could you do something that outrageous, have police escorts and not be arrested. I've never seen so many people HAPPY to be stuck in a cab and not able to move in traffic! *

*muffin and mini Me enjoying Blondies nana and papas property*

*Carrie and i advertising for what used to be HER coffee stand where we teamed up and worked for years and was called Dublin Brew. MANY happy memories at that place, now owned by a former employee*

* One of my closest friends in Oregon and hairstylist, Cleme- only he could do something so fun on mini me. I WANT HIM HERE IN GA!!!*

*After not getting her hair cut in a year.. we waited for our Cleme to do it.. her summer fun hair*


That's it for today.. more tomorrow-- for all of you i DIDNT see while i was there.. it was NOTHING against ANY of you.. i literally saw no one and barely went anywhere. i needed mental detox!!

Please know i love and miss all of you!!

Back To School ALREADY?!!!

Here goes my 3rd attempt at this post- somehow erased the last 2 while typing- i refuse to give up!! LOL
After a fun filled summer this year, i feel like we hit the ground running for another school year and i mean running. We cut our Minnesota trip short by 2 days than originally planned, due to school starting August 10th this year. THATS STILL SUMMER, but whatevs.. it is what it is, right?!

We did so much this summer from Making a suprise visit to Oregon and getting stranded for 3 days on the way back, having friends up from SC, Driving to Jersey and back in a weekend to drop off Mini Me for 2 Wks, our Jersey family coming for 4 days, then flying to Minnesota and driving to Iowa to spend time with the family and enjoy a reunion. I will make the next few posts pictures of each of the events..

BUT FIRST- Here are some first day pictures of school for mini me. She started at a new school this year due to us buying a new house in a new area. I was apprehensive at first because we LOVED her school last year- probably because her teacher ended up being one of my best friends out here in GA!
I was PLEASANTLY suprised at this new school- the staff is outstanding and ever so friendly. Her teacher is super sweet and mini me seems to really enjoy her. I didnt really get the pictures i wanted but i think that was due to being overwhelmed with just getting home. The poor kid didnt even have fresh bread for a sandwich in her lunch so got cheese and crackers instead of a sandwich. ( mom of the year award, i know!!)

walking into school- you had to park pretty far out and walk due to traffic- there is a cop there daily directing traffic- there seems to be alot of that for school and churches out here

At her new desk- doesnt she seem thrilled that i'm taking her picture?!

Sitting in her fort she made with sissy talking to grandma and grandpa about her first day at school-

Strawberry BLISS!

Today we threw a little party/ cookout for our neighbors that are getting married. I fond this recipe in blogland and it was SO EASY and tasted OUTSTANDING!!!! i highly recommend making this ASAP! i kid you not everyone had seconds and thirds!! I thought i would share the recipe with ya'll- ENJOY!

Strawberry Coconut Cake Recipe

Ingredients
Cake:
1 1/2 boxes of white cake mix
5 eggs
2 cups water
3/4 cup oil
1/2 box of strawberry jello (3 oz. box)
1/2 cup of chopped strawberries
Icing:
16 oz sour cream
1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 box of strawberry jello (3 oz. box)
7 oz bag of sweetened flaked coconut
1/2 cup of chopped strawberries
1 (8 oz) carton of cool whip thawed

Directions
Preheat oven to 350. Mix all ingredients for cake with an electric mixer. Pour into 3 (8 or 9 inch) round baking pans that have been sprayed with cooking spray. Place in preheated oven and bake for 22 minutes. Let cake cool completely before icing.
Mix all ingredients for the icing, excluding the cool whip. Place one layer of cake on a platter and cover the top with 1/3 of the coconut mixture. Add the second layer and cover that layer with another 1/3 of the mixture. Take the remaining 1/3 mixture and add the 8 oz carton of cool whip. Add the 3rd layer and cover the entire cake with your cool whip mixture. Garnish with strawberries.

Lil Muffin turns 2 !!

Seriously, i'm pretty much obsessed with these pictures and cant pick just a few.. so.. here they are. Lil Muffin turned 2 yesterday and im just amazed at how big she looks.. its pretty sad actually.
Mini me is in Jersey for 2 wks, so it was just the 3 of us that celebrated and went to Macaroni Grill- why there? Well, last year when we moved here, that's just the place we ate for her first birthday and so decided to make it a tradition.
I bought her cute little tutu on Etsy.com. I put in the search engine, Toddler tutus and this is from the selller sweetie pie tutus.

She wanted to show our neighbor : "Keyeeeeeeeeee" her tutu- shes the ULTIMATE peeping tom as you'll see in the pics to follow. Note the Crocs, lol

Yes, there is a Q on the front of her shirt- monogrammed is how we do now that we're in the South ;)

And then some pool time since that's what she wanted

Meeting daddy for Dinner with her Fancy Nancy purse from our nieghbor Kelly-

seriously have you not always wanted that neighbor that was like your FAVE neighbor that you could just walk into their house and borrow something or talk about anything? WE GOT EM!!!

wouldnt trade them for the world!

Watching Daddy text a pic of her to his family and lil muffins sissy that's visiting cousins in Jersey-

Were making S.L.o.W progress on the no paci thing.. but

its progress, people!!

Talking to kristin on the phone who was calling with a Birthday wish

Leaving dinner- look at her! could you just eat her up with her purse in hand?!

We wanted to celebrate with our super cool neighbors so went to cold stone and bought those cupcakes they have- the liner of the cupcake is SOLID chocolate- filled with cake and ice cream and frosting on top.. DELISH!

YEah... THIS little face is her newest FAVE- sissy taught her to stick out her tongue- FANTASTIC. Wait til i whip this pic out as her senior pic portrait for her yearbook, joke will be on HER!

Didnt want the outfit to get messy- eating across the street

We're sorry the celebration wasnt bigger with all ya'll there-- maybe next time.. but hope that thru these pics you felt as though you WERE there!!!

WE REALLY MISSED our grandpa and grandma AND our sissy!!!

Putt Putt

Today was a day packed full of errands, so i suprised the little ones and did an impromptu fun day in the midst of all the errands. We picked up some lunch and went and played mini-golf. Lil Muffin has never done this and it was funny to watch.

She wore her fave shoes from the G*P and they dont breathe AT ALL- so the suckers kept coming off due to all the sweat from her feet. She didnt want to be taught how to golf, so she basially followed her sissy like a dog and once in awhile swung the club one handed.
Notice whats missing out of the pic of lil muffin?!THE DANG PACI... i got it out of her mouth for the duration of mini golf. Whew- - - Enjoy the pics.. theyre pretty darn cute

I cant get over this girls EYES!!!! They say they are the window to your soul- i can honestly say this girls heart is as beautiful as her eyes. I am SO blessed to have her as my daughter. She'd do anything for ANYONE, she's like my mini nanny, its hilarious. That's why she needed to be a kid today-


Notice the hair? She now has it in poofy piggies on top of her head- it reminds me of that little girl on Sesame St. i cant remember her name-

SO.. completely off the golf subject- you know how we got another dog. Well, they each want to eat the others food- and little Jewel is on a special Liver diet due to her health issues. WEll, i'm getting a schedule down on how to feed them.

I told mini me that she needs to make sure she keeps the crate doors LOCKED - i've had to remind her so many times and had to make a point tonight. I told her if i had to tell her again, she'd be grounded for a day in her room.

Her response?

" shoot, i'd rather be grounded a day, than a week!!!"

uhm.. THAT'S AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT NOT TO SAY TO YOUR MOM!

Please Welcome a New addition!!

Our family has been SUPER MIA- partially due to me being lazy and also summer has hit and we've been traveling ALOT.. and oh the stories i have!!
Our little Jewel, pictured below is my baby. She was a Valentines Day gift from the husband and i couldnt love her anymore. i mean, seriously she is SPOILED! BUT.. she has serious serious health issues. She was born with a liver shunt and a heart murmur. Due to her shunt, she's on a special diet- the shunt causes her to vomit alot, have seizures and puts fluid on her brain. Most of the time she's normal, but when she gets bad, she's literally hanging on for life. I cant tell you how many thousands of dollars we've poured into her. We call her the Million dollar dog, and she doesnt fall too short of that ;) But, her weight is falling ( shes always been around 4lbs and LITTLE- also from shunt) and its getting worse. So, we've wanted to get another dog to help my mental status. ( the most recent time of almost losing her i couldnt get out of bed i was so depressed)

Well, at our apts before we bought our house i saw the CUTEST little brown poodle. I think poodles are UGLY! but this little fluff ball grabbed my heart- she was just adorable. I jokingly told the boy that owned her i would take her anytime they wanted to give her away. He told me their other poodle was pregnant and due in a month. I put my name on the list. Long story short, we went and saw the puppies and decided on a boy- we didnt hear anything for weeks. Monday, i get a call from the boys mom- her son had stepped backwards and stepped on our puppies leg, shattering it. She spent over 700 dollars on fixing it and didnt want to sell him when he wasnt in perfect condition.

Also, she was being transferred to VA for her job- she didnt have anyone to take her dog ( THE DOG I HAD ORIGINALLY WANTED!) ALL of the animal shelters here are FULL and so she was afraid she'd be put down.

So, we rescued this little ball of fur- i love her. shes the BEST dog.. EVER- we just have to train her to sleep in a crate. She currently barks all night long. BUT she's potty trained, doesnt chew- all the hard stuff is done!

She is mini me's SHADOW- i love it, they play with each other all day long. She's the hit of the neighborhood -

Once named Sage, mini me decided she now needs to be called COCOA- which oddly enough she comes to more than Sage-

As for our trips.. i'll post some of those pics in the next posts- we made a suprise visit to Oregon. I needed some R&R- its good to be back! ;) And thanks to my sweet blog friend, The pink owl for sending me a shout out to make sure i was ok. Thanks, girl!!

These pictures just arent flattering of her and dont do her justice. She's adorable i promise!!