Alexis wrote the following on her blog, Technically Grown up . To comment and read her original post Click here.

Emma had her first ‘incident’ as a toddler. She likes to go into our bathroom and play around in there. (no idea why-it’s the most boring room in the whole house) Well we have a lot of people over regularly and so we have one of those toilet paper holders that hold like 3 at a time so that whenever you need to refill it it’s right there.
One day she was in there and I heard her telling me something. So I look to see what she was doing and the toilet seat was up and an entire toilet paper roll was submersed in the toilet water. Ugh. I start to laugh, throw it away and wash her hands.
The whole time she’s looking at me like, ‘what just happened?!” LOL She’s so great. I was asking myself the same thing.

Reflective thoughts:

I was looking through some blogs and realized that I don’t know what I want mine to be. Is it a photography blog? kinda

a food blog? yeah, i guess. Is it about being creative with other mediums? when I have the money I thought about it and am still thinking about it. I know it will evolve with my life, but I wouldn’t mind some guidance I guess.

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Alexis wrote the following on her blog, Technically Grown up . To comment and read her original post Click here.

OK, so I found this AMAZING  blog with tons of awesome ideas. For moms, wifes, party planners, people who just needs to organize things better (me) and photographers. Dig in.

While roaming, I found this super cute idea. I thought that I could do this easily enough and even though it doesn’t look as good as her post (it never does) it’ll still show my meaning.  Here is her post. I hope you can adopt it to those who you love.

I’m going to randomly add these into Trav’s lunches

Awwww

I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice. ~ Abrahan Lincoln

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Alexis wrote the following on her blog, Technically Grown up . To comment and read her original post Click here.

We woke up to rainy windy weather this morning, so my idea of going to the park flew away with the wind.

Can you see the river?!

Splikity Splat Splat

Luckily I bought a paint set for Emma at the Dollar Tree (LOVE that store!) a couple days ago and thought we could have a fun painting day. And it was. She was more interested in the water than the colors and then if she wanted to chose a color- it was black. Oh well, she’s one. All in all, her pictures turned out really well! (with some help choosing colors from mom) She made 3 masterpieces and I’m going to make them into Christmas presents. I think involving shadow boxes and other little things she loves to do.

But what about me?! I needed an activity that would make me happy. Hmmm, so I made a peach cobbler. I think all my creative juices are living in the kitchen because that is a place I know money will always pour into- grocery budget! It’s harder to find the spare cash to buy cardstock, stones/crystals or stamps. So here I am in the kitchen. I found this in a blog but can’t find it again! I am sorry but I give all credit to her…wherever she is.

IT ONLY HAS 3 INGREDIENTS!!!!!!!!!! (thinking of you Melissa) I was skeptical at first but people it turned out awesome! (Travis called it perfect-and that never happens) All that’s in this baby is canned peaches, a yellow cake mix sprinkled evenly on top and one stick of butter cut into slices all over the top. That’s it! In that order and bake for about 1hr or until the top is nice and golden brown. I didn’t have ice cream OR whip cream.Oh well, it was still really good hot out of the oven. (I made it at 8:30pm last night-sorry for the bad picture above)

I am going to rely on this heavily in the winter months and for dinner parties and for potlucks and…etc. I was going to can pie filling and all that…but now I know just to buy regular old canned fruit! Who knew?! I am thinking about making this next with cherry pie filling. (my favorite) Yum. Try it- you can’t screw it up. Totally safe and EASY PEASY!

*note: I actually didn’t make this with canned peaches but with a 2lb bag of frozen peaches. I added 1/2 C water 1/2 C light corn syrup- you can’t cut the liquids, the cake mix NEEDS to soak it up to make it moist and well, edible. hehe

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Alexis wrote the following on her blog, Technically Grown up . To comment and read her original post Click here.

Tis the season for pumpkin carving, hay rides, buying candy in bulk, Pumpkin Spice Lattes, Knee high boots and hot chocolate/cider. I accomplished most on the list this past week and even though I don’t have pictures of them all (that would be kinda freaky to me) I do have a picture or two of some pumpkins we put our artistic stamp on.

I decided that I had to name her. So let me introduce you to Patti Patrice. She likes cold nights, laughing with children and small votive candles. Nice to meet you Patti!

I will now officially say that Emma has entered into her abstract phase in her artistic career. She likes to paint and color with her left hand and hates stopping. Well done Emma!

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Alexis wrote the following on her blog, Technically Grown up . To comment and read her original post Click here.

The party came and went last night and I can say that from my perspective it went well. I only wish I had a backyard for the kiddos to run around and go crazy in. Oh, well. Emma was, of course, Snow White. I actually dressed up as a cow girl, who I was later told I looked like a farmer. Huh, better work on that. Emma had a lot of fun, pushing a stroller full of babies, eating brownies and playing with her friends. She had her moments of being overloaded and wanting to snuggle with me- which I ate up with a spoon.

I had been fighting a stress headache the entire day adn knew that when the party was over I could start relaxing. We even had a dear couple who stayed behind (they are just married and don’t have kids yet-so spontaneity is still in their life)and they helped us clean the house! It meant so much to me. They even left and came back with TACO BELL! And that is a serious love language for me…they are so sweet and thoughtful. They even babysit Emma randomly when I’m calling the day of. Good friends are important to have. They also both have blogs so please go check them out. Go here to see Becky’s and here to see Brandon’s. THANK YOU GUYS FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART!

Aren’t these mini Pumpkin Cupcakes ADORABLE?! A girlfriend friend made them, go here to see her blog, and they were a bit hit. Thank you Amy!

Another girlfriend made these- check out her blog here. The leaf and pumpkin muffins made with spice batter was so YUMMY! I think they just perfectly capture fall.

I didn’t have a shirt so I had to borrow from Trav’s side of the closet. Eyeliner for the ‘freckles’ and the hat is vintage- it was Trav’s as a young boy…either I have a tiny head or he had an enormous head as a toddler.

The children’s activity- coloring pumpkins. The older kids took this very seriously and the younger one’s thought it was more fun to color on our coffee table. Good thing they were washable and just cleaned right up. It sure made the parents sweat with fear. hehe

“Oh my goodness!”

All 9 children who came. It was so cute! But a bit crazy too. So how do I wind down?…..

TACO BELL BABY! *sigh…ah, now I can start relaxing. This was Trav and my dinner, at around 9pm. Yikes.

If you want me to do something for you- Taco bell is close to my heart.  I’m going to upload more pictures of friends and Emma onto her blog later today so check it out!

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Alexis wrote the following on her blog, Technically Grown up . To comment and read her original post Click here.

After talking with my mom on the phone, I felt like I had kinda slipped from doing the cool things Emma and I used to do together. So, I decided that we would start doing fun things today. Small things are just as memorable as big events. In fact I have great memories of my family hanging out in the kitchen laughing so hard I would pee my pants…ah the good ol’ days.

Today we had manicures. She had a beautiful Sparkle Pink and I had a French manicure. She ADORED it and loved seeing the color being painted onto her finger nails. She even begged for two coats! I stopped it then because she wanted three- this girl is hard core. I must say that even though my fingers don’t look horrible, I can’t wait to visit my mom and get a REAL manicure and pedicure. It is the best girl time. Well, that’s it and I hope you enjoy the pictures.

This is showing Emma’s begging in wanting three coats of polish! Check her blog out for a different perspective.

Tada!

Try this with your daughter, sister, cousin, niece. It makes such a great memory.

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Alexis wrote the following on her blog, Technically Grown up . To comment and read her original post Click here.

God has been showing me something new. And He’s so nice too, because I can be a little…stubborn at times and focused on other things. But there He is always smiling and waiting to tell me something. He’s the nicest person I know.

Anyhoo, as I was saying, he has been showing me myself. There is this piece to me that I thought was safe. I thought I was safe from being hard hearted. (For those who know me, this is kinda funny.) But just recently an instance arose and I was faced with the decision to harden my heart towards this person. I knew what I must do but it was so hard! It was then He showed me He wanted to be that shield protecting my heart from hardening and allowing bitterness to grow. I was actually happy and shocked that I was hurt because I thought that door was shut towards that person. But as I was feeling emotions, I was happily aware that I had friendly feelings and love towards them.

I never want to let go of that love for that person or anybody for that matter. I want a soft fleshy heart that beats for others. And with God’s help I will.

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Alexis wrote the following on her blog, Technically Grown up . To comment and read her original post Click here.

To love means loving the unlovable. To forgive means pardoning the unpardonable. Faith means believing the unbelievable. Hope means hoping when everything seems hopeless.

~Gilbert K. Chesterton

This really encouraged me today and I hope it encourages you in your day to day routine.

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Alexis wrote the following on her blog, Technically Grown up . To comment and read her original post Click here.

I grew up in a pretty traditional home. My mom is German and so I grew up thinking sauerkraut and schmarm was a staple in  every home across America. Sure I think cold macaroni salads are puke worthy and -prepare yourself- I don’t like the taste of chocolate. It doesn’t mean I like weird things…that was until today. You know when you go to a fancy dancy restaurant and they have special sandwiches that have cranberry cream cheese spread and apples on their sandwiches? I would always, and I mean always, roll my eyes and settle on the turkey or ham sandwich. Oh yeah. I like adventure.

Anyways, I was looking through past posts and was sickened by all the sweet things I make. No, it does NOT mean I will stop (hehe) but it means I need a little more green leafy veggies and fruits in my diet. I was, randomly, craving a sandwich for lunch and decided that not only was I going to make myself one but I would branch out of my…shall we say ‘traditional’ style of sandwiches. Thus became this sandwich…I was really wary of taking that first bite. And the truth was I really really like it! I’m shocked. I actually put apples in my sandwich and ate it. Unbelievable. The fat lady has sung people. I hope you enjoy it- it’s very pretty looking. (it had to be or why else would I eat it?!)

It’s made of:

Plain Cream Cheese with salt and pepper smushed in it

Regular Wheat Bread- oh man I wish I had Chibata or something else fancy like those pretty food blogs…

Spinach Leaves

Turkey slices (I kinda branched out)

Apple slices cut thinly

Red onion

*the trick is to cut the apple and onion the same thickness so they even out each other taste wise. I’m going to make this this week when a friend comes over- sure to impress and really flavorful. You can even make it into a fancy appetizer.  Please try it and let me know how you like it!

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Alexis wrote the following on her blog, Technically Grown up . To comment and read her original post Click here.

Meal time again. Whoopie. Not to fun for you but a nessesity for me. If I don’t plan, I will freak out next week thinking we don’t have any food. So here it is. Oh, and I have to show a picture of Emma…a post isn’t a post without a picture right?!!!!

Tuesday: BBQ Chicken Pizza

Wednesday: Chicken Noodle Cheesy Cassarole

Thursday: Chicken Empanadas

Friday: Chicken Fajitas with Roasted Vegetables

Saturday: Leftover night! Yahoo for me!

Sunday: Chicken Bean Toastadas

Monday: Date night

Tuesday: Steak/noodle Concoction

Wednesday: Chicken Pot Pie

Thursday: Grilled Cheese Sandwiches and Homemade Chicken Noodle  Soup

Friday:  Steak Salad

Saturday: Leftover night! Yahoo for me!

Sunday: Small Group Football Game!

Monday: Homemade Chili and Cornbread

Doesn’t this make you want to scoop her up and not let anything bad touch her?! *sigh I am now going to give you a list of the ‘lunch items’ I am making for Travis’ lunch meals. I am stretching it kinda but making desserts is always more fun.

Cranberry Cinnamon Rolls- Check

3 Pumpkin Breads (to freeze)

Caramel Corn- one batch done, one more to make

Cappuccino Brownies

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Peach Cobbler- be looking for this incredible recipe! (only 3 items!)

Blueberry Muffins

Almond Biscotti

Berry filled Empanadas/ coated in cinnamon sugar

All of these have been in my ‘to do list’ and I am making them all now while I have the energy and freeze most of them. This way when I’m feeling lazy (and I do more often than I should in the winter months) I’ll just pop these suckers out of the freezer. Want to make them with me?

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Alexis wrote the following on her blog, Technically Grown up . To comment and read her original post Click here.

Meal time again. Whoopie. Not to fun for you but a nessesity for me. If I don’t plan, I will freak out next week thinking we don’t have any food.  Make Travis nervous and frustrated and all around not a good situation. So here it is. Oh, and I have to show a picture of Emma…a post isn’t a post without a picture right?!!!!

Tuesday: BBQ Chicken Pizza

Wednesday: Chicken Noodle Cheesy Cassarole

Thursday: Hot Sandwiches and Pumpkin Bread

Friday: Chicken Fajitas with Roasted Vegetables

Saturday: Leftover night! Yahoo for me!

Sunday: Small group night

Monday: Date night

Tuesday: Steak/noodle Concoction

Wednesday: Chicken Pot Pie

Thursday: Grilled Cheese Sandwiches and Homemade Chicken Noodle  Soup

Friday:  Steak Salad

Saturday: Leftover night! Yahoo for me!

Sunday: Chicken Bean Tostadas

Monday: Homemade Chili and Cornbread

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Alexis wrote the following on her blog, Technically Grown up . To comment and read her original post Click here.

Today was a beautiful day. The clouds threatened us with dark colors but nothing has rained down on us but sunshine. Emma and I took a walk because Emma was freaking out wanting to go outside it would be good for Emma to get some fresh air. Once outside, she immediately started talking high pitched and looking for the neighborhood cat. She ADORES it and just so happens to also freak it out. She’s just a toddler….I mean my baby…*sniff, my baby is growing up!…..

Here kitty kitty

“There it is mommy!!!”

Unfortunately, it only came to see me and after a while got frustrated with Emma and just left. So we continued on our walk adventure. I took many many pictures and annoyed the crap out of Emma, but out of them all….only ONE had her with her eyes open. This one:

We slowly came home and colored on her special pumpkin, a project I had been holding off on till today. I had to have something to bribe her with to come inside…and she didn’t want to come inside…she let me and the whole neighborhood understand she didn’t want to.

This pumpkin is awaiting Emma’s creativity. So before…

In the middle of being beautified…

OK say it with me. “Oooooooo” I know, she has an artists stare huh…:) Or maybe the sun is just in her eyes.

Tada! The finished product which greets visitors at our front door.  :) Enjoy your Monday, we are going out to celebrate a friends birthday for dinner. (Yahoo, I don’t have to make anything!!!) Tomorrow I’m making BBQ Chicken pizza…mmm. For some reason I’ve been craving BBQ. Huh. Anyhoo, have a nice evening.

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Alexis wrote the following on her blog, Technically Grown up . To comment and read her original post Click here.

OK, for those of you who read my blog on a fairly consistent basis, yes I am blogging about the same cinnamon roll biscuits that I made about a month ago. I felt I cheated you out of the process by only showing you the end result. So, since I was going to make them this morning I documented some steps for you in case you are interested in making them. (and you should, it takes…maybe 10 min to whip these up! 20 max with baking and all)  I added regular raisins, golden raisins and dried cranberries to the dough. I’m so glad I did. I also made it with whole wheat flour and didn’t make these with heavy cream but with whole milk and they turned out great. So technically…could these be considered healthy cinnamon rolls?! I think I’m on to something…

Sorry for the blurry-ness. No excuses but a bad picture. This is the dough patted out into a rectangle and the filling mixture ready to be rolled together. (you could put nuts in here now, but I’m not a fan of nuts so not happening in our house. But a good idea on the less)

This pretty roll is being cut into 1 in” pieces and then placed in a non greased pan. Isn’t it gorgeous not even cut up?! I could just stare at it and say, ‘Mmmmm’.

Just another view…

Before baking in my pan. You want to give them their own private space and not stuff them up next to each other. Even cinnamon rolls need a little space people. (the recipe says it yields 9, but as you can count, I got 12 out of the roll) Baking time! – 400′F until they’re golden brown.

See what happens? Just like teenagers, you give them their space and they in turn will grow and become attached to you. (Or so I hear, but don’t listen to me, I don’t have a teenager) I made the icing. 6 Tbl powdered sugar and 4 t milk. I made more because who wants a little icing drizzled on a cinnamon roll?! I doused mine. And they turned out just great.

I hope you make them and if you do, please let me know and I would LOVE to go to your blog, see them and comment!

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