We LOVE Play Dates!!

If you are a stay at home mom, you will understand and appreciate the need for play dates during the week!! Don't get me wrong, I LOVE staying at home with Macie, but there is something special about having other moms you can get together with and have a little girl time, while letting your kids play! It is always such a comforting feeling at the end of the day knowing you are not the only one who still let's your almost 2 year old have a paci, has a child who is EXTREMELY picky when it comes to food, and to even get a few tips on how to handle the tantrums! I have a couple of great friends, Jana Savage and Katy Hendrix, who I get together with once a month for a play date! It's always so much fun to get the kids together to play and for us to catch up on what's going on in each other's lives! Yesterday the girls came over to our house and we let the kids play and we just hung out and had some lunch! We had so much fun and the kids did too!! After every play date, I always look forward to the next month!!

Silas, Macie, and Audrey

Sunday Morning Princess, Sunday Afternoon Tomboy!

Yesterday morning little Macie Jewel got all dolled up to head to church. She had on a new dress her Kay Kay bought her from Gymboree (THAN YOU KAY KAY) and some brand new shoes, and she KNEW she looked like a princess!! She kept smiling and spinning around in her dress saying "pitty" (her word for pretty) and not to mention she just kept going on and on about her new shoes saying "ooh shoes, ooh shoes"! The girl LOVES some shoes!!! But ever so quickly did the little princess transform into our little tomboy:) This afternoon we were out of the dress and outside playing in the grass clippings as her daddy cut the grass! She is NOT afraid of a little dirt!! She LOVES to get dirty!! She had such a fun time playing in the grass and riding her bicycle and the neighbors powerwheel toy, making her daddy proud:)

So "pitty"

Our little tomboy! And YES, that is a Halloween bucket:) She found it this weekend in a closet upstairs and hasn't put it down since:)

Riding her Dora Bike her great grandparents gave her!

Making her daddy proud!

Love Shack Bowling Night!

This past Friday our church had a Love Shack bowling night at the Billy Hardwick Lanes. Love Shack is a married couples event that is put on by our church, Highpoint, about once every 3 months. The Love Shack events give married couples in our church an opportunity to meet and hang out with other married couples, while having a fun date night out together and learning how to grow a happy and healthy marriage! Andy Savage and the Love Shack team always do a great job organizing and putting it all together! Although I HATE bowling (not to mention the funky shoes you have to wear), we had a lot of fun hanging out with friends!

Jason and I

Our bowling partner's Jason and Andrea Bendall

Our other bowling partner's Clint and Sara Crosslin

The girls: Andrea, Sara, and Me

DON'T let YOUR children try this at home!

The other day I was trying to get some laundry done and had just moved some clothes out of the dryer into the living room to fold. Usually my "little helper" follows me during laundry time because she LOVES helping out with laundry (handing me clothes to put in the washing machine, putting clothes into the dryer, helping fold the clothes, ect). But for some reason this day she did not. I laid the clothes down and proceeded to our bedroom to grab another load. When I noticed she wasn't following me, I began calling her name...no answer. So I went looking for her...and this is what I found!

I ALWAYS keep the landry room door closed, but since I was in the process of doing laundry I had left it open for a few minutes. Never under estimate the "curiosity" of a toddler:)

Blackberry Cobbler With Streusel Topping!

I have found this great love for cooking over the last year!! There is something so gratifying in finding the perfect recipe, putting it together, and then enjoying the creation:) Of course some of my favorite things to make are desserts! Yummy! This recipe was compiled from 2 separate recipes that I had found. I didn't like either one of them completely, so I thought, why not combine them! It turned out AMAZING, so I just had to share! It's really easy and like I mentioned earlier its AMAZING!!!

Blackberry Cobbler With Streusel Topping

Cobbler

8 Tbls (1 stick) of melted butter

1 cup self rising flour

1 cup sugar

1 cup milk

3-4 cups fresh or frozen blackberries

1 1/4 cup sugar (used to sweeten blackberries)

Streusel Topping

3 cups brown sugar

1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts

2 cups all-purpose flour

12 Tbls (1 and 1/2 sticks) melted butter

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350*

Melt 1 stick of butter and place in 9x13 dish (I just start preheating the oven and let the butter melt in the dish in the oven). In a separate bowl, mix together 1 cup self rising flour, 1 cup sugar, and 1 cup milk. Pour over top of melted butter, DO NOT MIX. Sweeten 3 cups of blackberries using 1 1/4 cups sugar. Pour berries over batter, DO NOT MIX. Set aside

Topping:

In a separate bowl, mix together 3 cups of light brown sugar, 1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts, and

2 cups all-purpose flour. Pour flour mixture over blackberries. Melt 1 1/2 sticks of butter and pour evenly over flour mixture. Place in preheated oven for approximately 45 min-1 hour. Cooking time depends on whether frozen or fresh berries are used. Bake until the entire cobbler is golden brown and bubbly throughout.

Enjoy!

Our Little Artist!

Macie LOVES to paint! She will gather all her "supplies" up and put them on the table and then come and get Jason's or my hand and lead us to the table and say "aint"!! Too cute! This week we decided to take the painting outside:) FUN!

Corn on the Cob Seasoning

Tonight we tried this great recipe for homemade grilled corn on the cob seasoning that my mom gave us. It was DELICIOUS!!!! So, I thought I would pass along the goodness!  

Ingredients:

Fresh corn on the cob

2 Tbls Olive oil

1-2 Tbls Butter (melted)

1 Tsp Smoked Parika

1 Tsp Garl ic Powder

1/2 Tsp Salt

Mix all the above ingredients together and rub on corn using a pastry brush.  Grill on over open flame until corn is done, rubbing additional seasoning on during grilling if desired.  The measurements for each ingredient can be altered depending on your taste!  Enjoy!

Simple Mom

I found this cute mommy website called Simple Mom while reading a friend, Julie Hilton's, blog. If your a mommy, you should definitely check it out!!

Harper Bennett Haley!!

Yesterday we had a baby shower for one of my very best friends Lea at our house. Renee Shackelford, Wendy Young, and myself hosted the shower. It was such a fun party and Lea got TONS of great gifts!! We had some incredible food and there were a lot of friends who came to congratulate her!! Lea looks amazing to be 8 months pregnant, but I know she is ready for little Harper to be here with the crazy heat!!! Just a few more weeks!!! Harper Bennett is expected to be here around September 25 (or sooner!) and we all can't wait!! Congratulations Lea!!! We love you!!!!

Beautiful Mommy To Be~Lea Haley

Photo take by Elizabeth Wiggs with Elizabeth Wiggs Photography

Check her out, she is AWESOME!!

The shower invitation

Lea, Wendy, and Myself

The Yummy Food!

TONS of gifts!

The diaper wreath I made for the front door

Spoiled Rotten!!!

This weekend has been full ALREADY. Jason and I were preparing to have a baby shower at our house, so Macie spent Friday with her Poppie!! They started off their morning by having McDonald's for breakfast and he basically ordered EVERYTHING off the menu so she could "choose" what she wanted:) Then they headed to Toy's R' Us and bought a Little Mermaid Chair and a baby doll!! Then.......oh yes, there's more.........they headed to Wolfchase Mall to play on the indoor playground! What a fun day! She has her Poppie wrapped around her little finger!! Friday night Macie spent the night with her Kay Kay and had some "visit time" with her Grandma who came in town!! What fun! Needless to say, she is worn out today!!!

Playing With Shelby!

Macie has made a very good friend with the little girl across the street named Shelby. And Mommy has made a great friend with her mom Sharley:) The girls play several times a week and this week they decided to have a sprinkler/pool party! Macie didn't like the pool because it had grass in it, she kept saying "ewwwh"...such a girl!! We are very sad because we just found out Shelby and her family will be moving next weekend. They are building a house not to far from here and their current house sold QUICK, and their move out day came just as QUICK!! We are going to miss them SO MUCH. There will be many play dates to come, we are just sad they won't be across the street anymore!