Olivia Marie is Two!

Hurry Fall, Hurry!

It's hard to believe Summer is almost over. But I loved that it literally seemed to go on forever. We crammed so much into this short time. Which is why part of me is exhausted and can't wait to see those leaves hit the ground. I am definitely ready for a slow down!
The only thing that makes me really, really sad is that camping season is over. And we couldn't go last weekend, because EVERY WHERE was full. Don't get me wrong, we stayed in a hotel downtown and it was a lot of fun. But truth be told, I'd rather be camping than doing almost anything else. I just love the calm of it, and being forced to be outdoors all day long, and I don't know. The simplicity of it.
I am booked every weekend for the next month, so I don't think we're going to get a last camping trip in. Bummed about that. I need closure. Lol. But really, it'd be nice to go and know it's our last trip of the year, so we could be extra happy and extra appreciative and savor every moment just that much more. Crossing my fingers for a maybe...
Another reason I can't wait for Summer to be over, free weekends again! I miss having nothing to do, but get together with friends, and hang around the house. Those are good days! I never in my life, thought I would wish for Winter! Or even want to see it! But this year, I do!
Olivia's Birthday party is tomorrow! I am so ready for it! I have all the decorations and everything else sitting on my table, waiting. My kids are going to Grandma's tonight and we are setting up and decorating while they are gone. So come tomorrow morning, all we will have to do is get ourselves ready, and do those couple extra things you always forget to do, and that is IT! Nice, stress free party! Hooray! We are expecting a really good turn out! Around 10+ kids alone. I'm all for that! And most of our family can make it too, excluding the far away ones of course!
All in all, thinking and hoping it's going to be a wonderful day!!!

Food for thought

So now that I've become an official Pinterest junkie, my creative juices are flowing. Or trying to any way. I've got so many ideas from that site, and so many inspirations from the already existing ideas.One thing I really want to start doing more of, is cooking! REAL cooking! Not boring, same as always, family favorites cooking. I mean I want to TRY new things. I will tell you the only thing that ever stopped me from this was the fact that I have an incredibly picky husband.

I decided tonight (or kind of at the grocery store) that I was going to make manicotti. To be honest, when I cook, I tend to skip on details, like a tablespoon of parsley, and yada yada. I bought the noodles and ricotta cheese today, and then once home found a recipe online. I started putting it all together, and for the first time ever, I had every single ingredient in my possession! Go me!

My husband of course tried to talk me out of it for about half hour, when I finally said, "feel free to make yourself dinner." Hehe.
It was fun! I made manicotti, one of my favorite foods, for the first time ever tonight! It was amazing, and even my husband thought so, going on and on about how the noodles were cooked to perfection. He is extremely OCD when it comes to noodles. And even HE was impressed. Success!
It was a Good night! Actually a great day in general! My daughter turned TWO!
She kind of inspired the manicotti. I wanted to make a dinner she would like, and she loves pasta... well noodles and butter. So I made the kids that, and Mommy and Daddy manicotti. The kids actually ate every single noodle on their plate, garlic bread included. I felt like Super Mom!
Speaking of cooking, I made some cupcakes for Olivia's Birthday. She is having a party next weekend, but I wanted her to still have something on her Birthday. So I made the most amazing cupcakes I've ever had. I put an oreo in the bottom of the cups, and than poured devil's food cake batter over them and iced them with a very thin cream cheese frosting. I don't even like cupcakes, or cake very much, for that matter, but these were AMAZING!
It's been a yummy weekend! :)