Happily Ever Mock

Heavy Heart

I had a whole post planned for today. “A day in the life of Hallie”.  But I woke up this morning unable to write it.  I have a very heavy heart today.  I am sorry to those who were looking for my usual upbeat, happy posts this morning.
Instead I am in a deep funk due to some sad news I received over night.  
Dear friend who is struggling, I love you and know that God is looking over you and your family right now. I know nothing I say, or that anyone says can make you feel better today, but know that I am here to talk if you need me.  
So today’s post is for those going through a tough time. I hope these words are comforting:

Matthew 5:4 

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.










Proverbs 3:5 

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.







2 Corinthians 1:3-4 

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God







<3 Kelly

The Many Faces of Hallie- Whatever Mom!

I’ve always said my baby is the most easy going baby there is.  She slept through the night at a month old, we have a fairly loose schedule in the scheme of naps (eating and bedtime/wake up time stay fairly the same, however she will sleep anywhere), she tags along with me EVERYWHERE (errands, work, story time, playgroup, etc.) 
So I feel like this look is going to be a Hallie staple! “Hallie want to go to the store with Momma?” 
Hallie-“Whatever Mom!” “Hallie want to take a bath” Hallie- “Whatever Mom”…I just hope this lasts! Teenage girls tend to be fairly opinionated! So, dear Hallie, please stay Momma’s sweet easy going girl for as long as you can! 
 <3 Kelly

Countdown to Halloween Week 2: Costumes of the past!

Linking up with Sweet Turtle Soup today for the Countdown to Halloween! Y’all should too!

Sweet Turtle Soup

My favorite part of Halloween you ask? The candy? No! The decorations? Not a chance! It’s absolutely the costumes! I LOVE watching the little kids dressed up as witches and skeletons, fairies and ninjas! But planning my costume is the absolute BEST! In fact I have been known to prowl the internet Halloween night to get an idea for my costume for the following year!


So, while I leave you guessing what our Halloween costumes will be this year, I thought I would share some of my costumes of the past!

The first year Christopher and I were together, we dressed up as a devil and an angel.  I was the devil of course, because isn’t Halloween about dressing up in a costume far from your true personality? (Lol, honey, I kid, I kid!)



























The 2nd year we were together, I dressed up as a Playboy Bunny and Christopher was Hugh Hefner…lol, aren’t theme costumes the best?! Fun Fact, My nephew was born the day before this Halloween party! I remember my Mom was with my older sister, so my little sister and I went all over town searching for a captain’s hat for Christopher to wear (PS sorry I don’t have any couples pictures to share!)

 The following year I had a History exam on Halloween and couldn’t dress up…super lame right!? What kind of professor gives an exam on Halloween!? Seriously! But the year after that, I went as a Flapper and Christopher went as a Mobster…that was the last Halloween I could convince him to dress up with me too! 
This next year might have been my favorite costume ever! Note the shoes, because a lot of work went into making this the best Minnie Mouse costume ever! 
Since Christopher didn’t want to dress up with me anymore, I got a puppy to dress up with me! This was the year we dressed as Christmas Elves! I actually had my aunt take pictures of us in our costumes and used them for festive Christmas cards that year for family and friends! lol Stella is a good sport!
(Please excuse my sister’s messy room in this picture, she is in theater and I was borrowing lace gloves from her to finish this costume! I also had her snap the pic)

This was my throwback to the 80’s costume.  I also made Stella a neon tutu and bought neon blue hair fur dye. But she  was scared of it! lol

 
The year we were married (actually this was 10 days before our wedding) I went as little Red Riding Hood! My intentions were to get Stella to be my wolf…but I didn’t have time (given extra wedding chores) So she just posed for a picture with me!




Last year I went as Mary Poppins (I even had a teeny tiny peanut Hallie hiding in my tummy)


This is another one of my favorite costumes! This year instead of begging Christopher or forcing Stella to dress up with me, I had my sister and cousins over to watch the Pretty Little Liars Halloween Special and we all dressed up and ate Halloween themed food! yummy! There was even talk of a “Boo-rrito” Guess who thought that one up!?


Ps If anyone was counting, this will make year 10 of Halloween’s Christopher and I have been together! Crazy right?!

So…Hallie has a question for you guys….
 “Any idea what Mommy and I will be for Halloween this year?”
Leave your thoughts in the comment section (Family members who know the answer…shh!)
<3 Kelly and Hallie!

Don’t mind if Fondue and a trip to Wonderland

Happy Monday friends! I am pumped and ready to start another week? How about you?


This weekend was so much fun!


Friday night Joyce and I went to Cru wine bar and enjoyed some delicious wine and fondue!  Everything there is so delicious! Here’s what we had: (Ps sorry for the poor lighting…I didn’t get smart and use my flash until the last one…it must have been the wine talking! lol)


I enjoyed this flight of white wine, Joyce had red. Weird fact about me…I’m allergic to some red wines! I can drink sangria, but that’s about it!





We started with these goat cheese bengeits which were OH SO YUMMY and by far my favorite thing there!  Fried cheese soaked in honey…Yes please!





Of course we had to indulge in cheese fondue served with pears, apples, bread, crispy artichokes and potatoes. Okay, confession time! I might have an obsession with cheese and may or may not have wanted to lick this plate clean when we were done! Don’t worry I was a lady, but I did think about it!



And chocolate fondue, because we had to! YUM! Joyce and I are like the perfect pair when it comes to sharing this plate too! I don’t care for strawberries and another fun fact..I’m allergic to bananas, and Joyce isn’t overly obsessed with sweets as me, so the fruit were all hers! And I got more of the cake, which was perfect for me!
My Partner in crime! (I did have on a cute shrug over this, but it was soooo hot in there!)y ou also can’t tell but I of course had to wear my Hallie necklace! Because I missed her so much!) 

Saturday Hallie and I did a lot of errand running and cleaning and I made pasta for dinner.  

Sunday: We went to Church as a family and had breakfast with Larissa and her family! Dumb me I didn’t get a picture of that, but I did get one of Hallie at Church!

 



































After breakfast I soaked up plenty of Hallie time! You can find her cute dress here!







































Then I took a trip to Wonderland for my friend Kassandra’s wedding shower! The decoration’s were just too cute! The hostess, Jan did a wonderful Job!

 We all wore hats!
 She even painted the roses red!

 The Bride to be!
I was so impressed with all the great details! What a great time!

Hallie even enjoyed wearing Mama’s hat after the fun party!







































Hope everyone had a great weekend! What did you do?! 
<3 Kelly

Oh hey, Friday! Another edition of pics from the week!

Happy Friday everyone!!! I am so glad the weekend is upon us! We have a lot to squeeze into just 2 measly days this weekend! Seriously, weekends should be longer! I think everyone could use more time with their husbands, wives, friends, family and to snuggle their cute babies! I know I could!


So Tonight Joyce and I are going out for a girls night at a fondue/wine bar here in the big D! So excited for that! I feel like it would be good for both me and Christopher.  As much as I will miss Him and Hallie, it will be nice to get out and have some girl time! Also poor Christopher has been working round the clock and has missed his little girl terribly! I know he will be soaking up every minute of baby time today!


Tomorrow Hallie and I have a billion and a half errands to run! We HAVE GOT to go to the grocery store, I need to get a Bridal shower gift, I need to find a hat to wear to the bridal shower! lol It’s Mad Hatter themed. I am also planning on getting some pictures printed of Hallie to have around the house, that sort of thing! I also want to cook! I have been eating pita and hummus all week lol!


Sunday We are going to Church as a family, Larissa and her family is planning on joining us, and then we will all grab breakfast! Then I have the Mad Hatter Bridal shower! Still undecided on whether or not I will bring Hallie with me! She has tons of hats though…luckily! After the shower I am going to watch one of the little girls I had in my preschool class many moons ago! She was 3 at the time, now she’s 11! Crazy!


Anyway, On to the Oh Hey, Friday business! I figured I would again share pics from the week, because let’s face it, you are really here for pictures of my little peanut!


1.) Hallie catching up on her reading! I told you she loves baby faces! Our sweet friend Callie and her cute little boys sent this book. It is super adorable and you can find it here!








2.) My latest jamicure! I was feeling adventurous!
 lol.  I also wanted something Halloweeny without using
up my Halloween Jams.
www.dancinfeet.jamberrynails.net 




3.) Sadie (The little one I Nanny for) MIGHT be
Hallie’s favorite person of all time! When she is holding her
and doing something else (watching TV, etc.) Hallie
stares up at her waiting for Sadie to notice her and then
when she finally does, Hallie gives her the BIGGEST 
smile! So sweet!

4.) LOVE this picture of her! Also taken on Sadie’s lap.  She
is always SO HAPPY on Sadie’s lap! I think it looks like she
is saying “Hey Mom! Just chilling with my BFF! I’m going
to be just like her one day!

OKAY, get ready for Cuteness OVERLOAD! Because #5 is actually another adorable video of Hallie laughing at Stella! Next to Sadie, and of course Luna, Stella is next in line to be Hallie’s BFF!

Hope it makes you smile as much as me!
HAPPY FRIDAY
<3 Kelly

Story time/Play date

Yesterday we had so much fun again at story time with Larissa and Luna!



 The signs we have been working on are “eat” and “drink”.


After doing a bunch of fun rhymes, we read our story which was all about eating.  


Hallie LOVES any book with baby faces! She stares and stares at the eyes, it’s pretty cute.  So this one was a huge hit!
I am absolutely going to have to purchase this one! 


As always after the rhymes and stories, the librarian passed out toys to play with and blew bubbles for the kids…sadly Hallie was a bit cranky by the time the bubbles came around to her… 


I did get some cute pictures of her playing with her friends though!







Luna playing ball! 

 Hallie and Luna getting into mischief! These 2 are going to be a handful when they are older! 




 



























Friendly baby holding hands with another little girl!  

  Larissa and I are in the process of getting our own Mom’s/Playgroup together,  so after story time we went to one of my favorite local places for brunch, “Cafe Brazil” and planned some new events! We’ve got some fun things in the works, so stay tuned!  
After brunch, Larissa and Luna had us over for some fun play time! These girls are going to be BFFs!
Hope everyone else had a great Wednesday and that Today goes by fast! Almost Friday! Hooray!!!
I leave you with one more picture of Hallie,
<3 Kelly

The Many Faces of Hallie: Dance Edition Part 2

In case you missed our first dance edition, you can see it here.  This proud ex dancer mama has been watching her daughter busta move since the young age of six weeks.

Hallie has now perfected the Cha Cha…take a look:


Hope everyone has a great Wednesday! We are headed out to storytime with Luna and Larissa again Hooray! 

PS. It seems I had a picture error yesterday, which is now fixed! If you didn’t get to see Hallie’s cute footprint art, you can now see it here!

<3 Kelly

Countdown to Halloween! Week One!

Sweet Turtle SoupLinking up with Sweet Turtle Soup

Happy October friends! October is one of my FAVORITE months out of the year! I love how festive it is! All the pumpkin and Halloween decorations, and if the weather wold just take a hint…ahem…(95 for a high in October is unacceptable)….we’d have it made! 


If you would like the directions on the linkup head over to Sweet Turtle Soup, aside from the direction’s you will get to see tons of cute pictures of Courtney’s cute little one! 


Anyway, as I was saying, I just love October.  I am super looking forward to when Hallie is old enough to celebrate with me and enjoy all of the decorations, fun crafts and festive food, but for now, I will just take her along for the ride and create memories for mommy to cherish! 


Over the weekend, Hallie and I attempted a fun Halloween craft I found while Pinteresting!  With the help of my mom, who held a reluctant sleepy Hallie while I painted her toes white, we made footprint ghosts to share with Family and friends! Here is the one I am planning on framing to put on our mantle each year:




It turned out pretty cute! We are also going to attempt hand-print spiders…assuming I can get her to fall asleep in a good position without getting paint everywhere…be looking for an update on that! 


Also, if you missed my blog with Hallie’s 3 month pictures, here are some cute Halloween ones we got.  We also got some of her in her costume….buuuuut…I am still holding on the that adorable surprise, so stay tuned!
Hope everyone has a good Tuesday! 



<3 Kelly

Recap

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! We definitely did! Here are a few pictures!



Hallie and Mommy Friday Night and 
Sarah,Hallie and I Saturday at lunch





Yesterday we had a long much needed day with Daddy and went to Church as a family! 

This week should hopefully be a nice quiet week as well.  I’ve been so busy lately that I have kind of let the house go, but the only thing we really have planned all week is story time on Wednesday! Speaking of which, here are some pics of story time last week I forgot to share! We went with another Mommy from our playgroup and her adorable daughter Luna! The sign of the week was “Eat”

 















 We are planning on going again this week! Looking forward to update you on that! Hope everyone has a wonderful Monday! 

<3 Kelly

Oh hey, Friday! Recent Recipes!

Oh Hey! Friday! Wahoo! We are so glad too! This week has been super crazy at our house! I’ve hardly been home because this baby is in high demand! So this weekend is going to be a lot about relaxing!

Tonight is Joyce’s Mom’s birthday and we are going out to dinner to celebrate.  I’m making her birthday cake…more on that in a few

Tomorrow: My other best friend, Sarah, is coming into town and we are having lunch with our Moms.  We grew up a few doors down from each other, and it has been a long time (aside from our weddings) that we have had a mother/daughter outing, so this should be fun!
Also My mom and I are doing a little craft store shopping for some various things we want to make for Hallie!

Sunday- Family/Church day and possibly a much needed date night for this Mommy and Daddy!e This will actually be our first one since Hallie was born, so yay!

Anyway on to the Oh hey, Friday business! I thought I would share some of the recipes I have made recently that actually turned out pretty yummy, so here we go!

1.) Spinach Balls-
These are a family favorite! I made them last weekend for a Christopher’s brother’s birthday dinner!

Displaying 20140927_140713.jpg

Ingredients-
1 pack frozen spinach
1 stove top stuffing package
1 finely chopped large yellow onion
6 beaten eggs
1/2 cup melted butter
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp black pepper

Steps-
Dump all ingredients in a stand mixer and mix well.  Spray cookie sheet with cooking spray.  Form balls from mixture (about Half Dollar size) and place on cookie sheet spaced about an inch apart,

Cook at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes or until slightly browned

2.)  Chicken Schnitzel (AKA my husbands favorite recipe ever)
Displaying 20140908_182649.jpg
Ingredients-
8-10 boneless skinless chicken tenders
dash of salt
dash of pepper
dash of cayenne
3/4 cup of flour
2 beaten eggs
1 1/2 cups of seasoned breadcrumbs
1 lemon wedged
parsley
vegetable oil

Steps-
Prepare 3 separate bowls: 1 with flour, 1 with eggs with dash of cayenne, 1 with breadcrumbs, salt and pepper.  Heat skillet with vegetable oil over medium heat.  Coat each  tender with flour first, then egg, then breadcrumb mix.  Cook on skillet 4 minutes on each side or until fully cooked through.  Place on a plate with paper towels to soak up grease.  Sprinkle parsley and squirt lemon wedges over all tenders.

3.) Baked Tortellini Alfredo
Displaying 20140903_194756.jpgIngredients-
20 oz cheese filled tortellini
Displaying 20140930_192452.jpg1 jar Alfredo sauce
8 oz shredded mozzarella

Steps-
Cook pasta according to package and drain. Coat bottom of a casserole dish with some of Alfredo sauce and dump pasta into dish.  Mix with the remaining sauce and half of cheese. Sprinkle remaining cheese over top of pasta and bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes

4.) Havarti Spinach Mac and Cheese

Ingredients-
1 box of rotini pasta or desired pasta
2 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp flour
2 cups milk
2 1/2 cups of shredded Havarti cheese
1 cup of cooked spinach chopped
1 Tbsp Garlic powder
Salt and pepper to taste

Steps-
In a large sauce pan melt butter over medium heat
mix in flour and mix constantly until brown rue is formed
Add milk, whisking well until all lumps are beaten out.
When sauce is thickened (about 8 minutes) add cheese and spices and lower heat.  Mix in spinach and stir occasionally while cooking pasta according to package so the sauce does not burn.
Drain pasta and add sauce.  Viola! Delish!

5.) Super simple chocolatey goodness cake-
(I am making this today, but I have made it SOO many times and every time people are begging for the recipe…I am usually embarrassed to give it to them because it is so easy!

Ingredients-
ANY chocolate cake mix. I like Devils Food or Triple Chocolate, but any brand/kind will do!
1 bag of milk chocolate chips
1 cup sour cream
1 3.5 oz chocolate pudding mix
(all ingredients such as eggs/oil on cake box recipe)
1 large whipped chocolate frosting

Steps-
Start preparing cake according to directions on box in mixer
add sour cream, 1 cup chocolate chips and pudding mix to cake mix and beat well

Bake in 2 9 inch greased cake pans according to cake mix directions
Let cool completely.
Place one cooled cake on cake stand and spread chocolate frosting over the top of the cake to form a filling. Place 2nd cake on top and finish frosting cake.  Decorate with remaining chocolate chips.

Hope everyone enjoys these recipes and please share your favorite recipes with me!
<3 Kelly
Linking up with September Farm