Happily Ever Mock

Weddings, Babies and Water Balloon Painting!

So a lot of exciting things have been happening! 
Friends Matt and Olivia were married last weekend! It was a beautiful wedding! I made the Flower Girl’s tutu:



































They seem so Happy!!!










We also have a brand new baby that entered the world on Monday!
Jennifer had baby Luke on Monday at 6:28 p.m! He weighed in at 8 lbs 2 oz!


























And he is ABSOLUTELY precious! 


My latest fun activity with the kiddos was Water Balloon painting!


I filled a bunch of water balloons with paint and they had fun throwing them at the fence! Here are the pictures:

 

I have some  better ideas for next time to make the paint brighter and to have them pop better(Thanks to my cousin Hannah!)…a lot of them ended up in the grass! 

Tonight Christopher and I are breaking out the pasta maker we got as a wedding gift and making homemade pasta and sauce!! I am SUPER excited!!! Pictures on that to come!!

Until then,
Mrs. Mock

Happy Fathers Day and 1st week of Summer with my Girlies

This past week was my first week at home with the girlies and we had A LOT of fun!!!


Monday: We had a “Backwards Sleepover”- We started at 9 a.m. with donuts and the girls friends left around 3 p.m.



We did all the things kids do at sleepovers…except sleep over! 🙂


We had a scavenger hunt and the girls looked for all the items they needed for their sleepover:
     >Popcorn Buckets
     >Popcorn
     >Candy
     >Nail Polish
     >Movies
     >Quiz Books
I divided the girls into 2 teams…Team Pink and Team Purple- All the items had a pink or purple tie on them so the girls knew which items belonged to them!

After they found all the items we played a couple of games:


>Who’s in the Bag- the girls played musical sleeping bags, and the other girls had to guess who was in each bag.  


























>Where’s My Stuffy- The girls were blindfolded and they each had to find the stuffed animal they brought in a pile of stuffys! 


























After the games we painted nails

























Took Quizzes


































Then we made mini pizzas 


























Finally the girls “settled down” in their sleeping bags to watch a movie and each popcorn and candy

  

Tuesday: We went swimming. We took a picnic to the neighborhood pool! 

Wednesday: We played a game of Life-size Scrabble and Finger painted  


   Best Word on the board!!!!! 

 Thursday: We went swimming AGAIN! This time at my parent’s house

 Friday: We made father’s day crafts and bandanna flip flops! 
 
 
 Bandanna Flip Flops

 Father’s Day Cards


  Coasters- We lined the bottom of tiles with camouflage felt, and mod podged pictures on top!



 


















Looking forward to all the fun next week brings! 


On a closing note:
Happy Father’s day to both my Daddy and my father in law!

 Me and my Daddy 🙂

Summer has officially begun!

Summer has officially begun! So to catch you up on what has been happening lately…

My cousin Hannah and my Uncle Steve have moved back to the big D! 

We celebrated with a pool party the weekend before school ended for the kiddos:
 Fishy Matty
  Stella chilling in the pool…actually that was the most I could convince her to get in!


 Katie, Me and Amanda 
 
Me and Hannah!


For the pool party, Matthew and I made S’mores Krispy Treats…


Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients: 
4 Tbsp butter
1 bag mini marshmallows 
1 tsp vanilla
1 box of golden grahams 
1 1/2 cup chocolate chips


Step 1: Melt Butter in microwave: 
Step 2: Mix in Marshmallows and melt in microwave 

Step 3: Stir in Vanilla

Step 4:Add and Stir in Chocolate Chips

Step 5: Slowly pour in golden grahams and stir

 


Step 6: Spread into pan (May add extra chips on top and gently press into pan,
 refrigerate for 10 minutes

Step 7: Cut into squares and enjoy!


So in other news….

My beautiful baby sister graduated!!! So proud!


So this week begins my Fun summer with my little girlies! I will have to keep everyone posted on all of the neat things we have planned! I also have some yummy recipes I am making this week…some of which include a pretty amazing ingredient…


ONIONS! From OUR backyard! Christopher began gardening in March, and these are the first veggies ready for use! They smell delicious and I am sooo excited to cook with them!!


Stay tuned!
Mrs. Mock 

Kitchen Update!

We just made a few little changes to our kitchen to make it feel more like our own!  There are still so many things I would like to do to it (Paint, redo cabinets and drawers, counter tops), but we are slowly taking baby steps! 


First, we got a pots and pans hanger for our wedding, and Christopher was so sweet to put it up the night before my birthday, to surprise me! 



























So, another change I have been meaning to make is to put up all of the adorable plates all of our guests signed at our wedding (In lieu of a guest book) 


Here are all the plates:































I bought some cheap plate hangers at Hobby Lobby (1.99 each) 































Here is the kitchen before:





























And After:

 
 


Looking forward to making more cute changes! 
-Mrs. Mock

Busy Bees

We have been busy bees this weekend!


Friday: We went to Twisted Root to Celebrate our 6 month Anniversary (1 week early! We are busy next weekend!) We were Fez and we got a free milkshake which just so happened to be my favorite kind (Cookie dough and brownie!) Yum!




























Saturday: I started off my day celebrating with Christopher’s cousin Jennifer at another baby shower! Then I high tailed it to meet Christopher so that we could go to Brad and Melissa’s engagement party.  After all the parties I had to go to work for the rest of the evening.


Sunday: Today we got up early and went to Mass. After Mass, we went to a reunion for the marriage preparation that Christopher and I had to complete before our wedding. 
              TANGENT: So I was super nervous about the 6 week marriage preparation we had to go through before the wedding, seriously I was super dreading it!!! Much to my surprise however, I honestly believe that it was the best thing Christopher and I have done as a couple! Not only did it get us to think of any and every scenario we might face in our marriage from finances to kids to healthy arguments to putting each other first, but we also got to get to know Mike and Judy, the BEST sponsor couple I could have ever imagined! They are fabulous!!!! To anyone getting married, I HIGHLY recommend finding something similar to what Christopher and I went through in preparing for our marriage!
ANYWAY…So we got to see Mike and Judy again, along with meeting other young married couples at our Church! We had a really wonderful time! 
After Church, we went to visit my Nana, she hasn’t been doing that well, and I am so glad we went to see her, even though it was tough seeing her that way…
This afternoon, Christopher’s Dad came over and helped him put in our new tank less water heater! HELLO LONG HOT SHOWERS!!!! 🙂 
While they worked, I cooked, and Oh Em Gee! Everyone needs to try this recipe! It was delicious!! We definitely enjoyed this one!!!! 


Chicken Rollatini (A fun spin on Chicken Parmesan!)


Ingredients: 

  • 4 Chicken breasts washed and cut in 1/2 down the seam to form 8 cutlets 
  • 3/4 a cup of Italian Bread Crumbs
  • 1/2 a cup of Parmesan Cheese Divided into fourths
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 blocks of frozen spinach (20 oz total) defrosted and drained (Get all the water out!)
  • 6 tbsp part skim ricotta cheese
  • 6 oz part skim mozzarella 
  • Olive oil non-stick spray
  • 1 cup your favorite marinara sauce
  • salt and pepper and garlic powder to taste
Preheat oven to 450 degrees and grease a casserole dish 

After cutting the chicken breasts in half, pat dry and season with salt, pepper and garlic

In one bowl, Mix bread crumbs and 1/4 of the Parmesan 

In another crack the eggs

In a last bowl, combine the spinach (completely drained), the remaining Parmesan, the Ricotta cheese and 2 oz mozzarella.  






















Next, scoop a generous helping of spinach mixture into each piece of chicken and roll it over.  

Then dip the breast into the egg and roll in bread crumbs.  Place into casserole dish and repeat with each breast.  Cook for 25 minutes.































Last, smother with marinara sauce and top with remaining mozzarella cheese and place back in the oven for 5 minutes until cheese is melted and it looks all amazing like this:












































Hope you enjoy!!!
Have a wonderful week! 
Mrs. Mock 

News, Recipe and Summer Planning

I would first like to start off this post by congratulating my Best Friend Sarah! She just got engaged!!! Congrats girl! 


 










Her beautiful ring!




















It has been a busy week or two! I have been working a ton and getting ready for finals week! (next week!)
Only 3 finals between me and summer vacay!!! (THEN 1 More Semester until GRADUATION!! But let’s not get ahead of ourselves!)


Speaking of Summer! I have been working on a list of Fun things to do with my girls! Here’s what I’ve got so far!



































































Mom’s and Nanny’s please let me know if you have any other fun ideas we should try!!!!
I will have to update everyone on our final list and keep blogging throughout the Summer as we complete our list!


So on that note I leave you with my favorite recipe of the week:


Spaghetti Squash Casserole and Lemon Parmesan Brussel Sprouts:


For the Casserole:


  • About 3 cups cooked spaghetti squash (1 medium one)
  • 2 large garden tomatoes sliced
  • Kosher Salt
  • Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Dried Basil, Dried Parsley for sprinkling
  • 5oz of fancy shredded Mexican cheese blend (separated)
  • Fresh Basil for Garnish (optional)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Spray a 11 x 9 casserole dish with non-stick spray.
Spread about 1 cup of spaghetti squash on the bottom.

Top with a layer of sliced tomatoes. Sprinkle with kosher salt and spices.

Top with 1.5 oz of cheese.
Add another layer of squash, then tomatoes, spices and cheese. Top with a final layer of squash.
Top with the last 2 oz of cheese and sprinkle with the spices one last time.
Bake for 30 Minutes! 





We loved it!!!!




For the Brussels:
Ingredients

1 pound fresh brussels sprouts, cut in half


1 generous tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for greasing pan

2 teaspoons dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
sea salt and fresh black pepper


Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease a medium sized baking sheet lightly with oil.
Add the brussels sprouts to a large mixing bowl. In a separate small bowl whisk together the oil, mustard, lemon zest and juice and 1 tablespoon of the parmesan. Pour over brussels sprouts and toss well.
Spread out on baking sheet so they aren’t crowded and sprinkle with sea salt and black pepper.
Bake 20-30 minutes until golden brown and tender. Sprinkle remaining tablespoon of Parmesan over top before serving.





Yummy!!!





<3 Mrs Mock

Keeping Warm

On this ridiculously cold night in Dallas Tx, I refused to turn on our heater just to turn it off again in the morning.  (Tonight was a chilly 42 degrees!…Yes…in April!) So instead I  stopped and got a log for our fireplace on my way home from work then started a pot of chicken and dumplings!

This recipe definitely warmed us up! Here is the delicious recipe:

Ingredients

  • 5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, divided
  • 1 small yellow onion, minced
  • 1 stalk celery, thinly sliced
  • 2 carrots, diced medium
  • 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, divided
  • 5 cups chicken broth
  • 2 cups of chicken, cubed
Favorite poultry seasoning ( I used one with a bit of a spicy kick!)
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, plus more for topping
  • 1/2 cup whole milk
  • 2 Tablespoons of olive oil

Directions

  1. In a large saucepan, coat bottom with olive oil.  Rub chicken with poultry seasoning and Cook chicken until done over medium heat.  Melt 3 tablespoons butter over medium-high. Add onion, celery, and carrots and cook until onion is translucent, about 4 minutes. Add 1/4 cup flour and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Gradually add broth, stirring constantly, then bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes. Stir in chicken and season with salt and pepper.
  2. Make dumplings: Whisk together 1 cup flour, baking powder, 1 teaspoon coarse salt, and 2 tablespoons parsley. Cut in 2 tablespoons butter. Stir in milk. (Add extra flour if too wet) Roll dough into small balls (About the size of a nickle) and drop into soup. Cover and simmer until dumplings are cooked through, about 12 minutes. Serve topped with additional chopped parsley.

    Enjoy! We really loved this yummy recipe on such an unusually cool night! Not that we were complaining! It gave us a chance to curl up and enjoy a movie! 
    XOXO
    Mrs.Mock

Mmm Mmm Good!

So…I have been trying to be a modern version of June Cleaver.
   >I Cook
   >I Clean
   > I do Laundry
   >I even perfected my own homemade BBQ sauce for my Texan husband!!!



But I also subscribe to the thought that when people come over, I must have some homemade snacks to serve them! 


So, Christopher’s buddy Brad came over with his fiancee Melissa last night to play games and hang out, and I had 3 hours to clean and throw together some snacks for us!
Pinterest to the rescue!!!


I Found a recipe for this oreo dip, and OH MY GOD…it was to die for!!!


  http://pinterest.com/pin/82964818107500096/

I also attempted a cajun “fried” pickle recipe that I also found on Pinterest. (Not as good)

Then I made my famous spinach artichoke dip and meatballs! 

We had a nice little spread! 

Brad and Melissa just got this cute new puppy named Tank, and they brought him over to play!!! We also played the Logo game that my mother in law gave us for Christmas and it was really fun!

 Tank!

 Sleepy Boy

 Melissa and her new baby! (He was hiding from Stella)
 Here they are meeting.

We had such a good time with them, and are looking forward to seeing them again real soon! 

 Here is Stella after they left still hoarding her toys! Uh-oh…worried what she will do when we add a baby to the mix!!
                                                              -Mrs. Mock

Happy Birthday To Joycie…

One of my very best friends had a birthday this Tuesday. It was a great day, first I surprised her with a big birthday box full of balloons and her favorite, Hello Kitty knick knacks!



































































For lunch, we shared a salad at cheddars , something small to tide us over to a huge dinner!


Then, her parents took all of her friends and family out to a huge dinner at Kobe steakhouse! It was so much fun! Good food and great company!

So, funny story…. When her mom and I ordered the cake, we thought it was going to be about half the size that it was. I offered to pick it up for her, and when I got there it was a huge 16 inches tall orange cake! There was no way that was going to fit in my car without it falling over and splattering orange frosting everywhere! We ended up having it delivered. It was delicious though! Here are some pictures of our fun evening:


XOXO Joycie! Hope you had a wonderful day!!!

Last weekend I through a shower for Christopher’s adorable cousin Jennifer.  She is having a Boy in June, and we are so excited! 

Our theme was Storybooks and Nursery Rhymes!


Here is the food and cake: 

We Designed Onesie’s and Burp Towels for Jennifer and we played a game where everyone had to guess which storybook or nursery rhyme Character they were (Jennifer was Little Boy Blue), it was so much fun!

Here are some cute photos of the Mom to be:



http://www.happilyevermock.com/last-weekend-i-through-shower-for.html