This one is for my Sister!

So my favorite posts by my beautiful sister are her What I Wore Wednesday posts where she showcase's her style!  Jule's this one is for you!

 Like it?  Free T-shirt from Cloud 9 Retreat & BGSU sweats from Delphos Thirft $1

I'm laughing at myself just posting this ~ hope you get a kick out of it too!  This is my running on the treadmill outfit (my children forbid me to wear this in public).  Plus my mid-week no make-up, no contacts, no hairstyle look - the 'working mom'.

Here was my Easter Sunday outfit

 

 Dress from JCP  $16 (gift card) ~ Lia Sophia Necklace ebay $5

I have a really hard time getting a good pic.

Boots from Sears ~ $22

Tasty Tuesday - "Some More Casserole" Recipe

"Some More Casserole"

This is a great recipe that was shared with me by a friend several years ago. It's very basic, very inexpensive & very very quick & easy to make! Our family LOVES it! Honestly, I don't think it LOOKS very good but trust me it's delicious. We don't have leftovers when we have this for dinner because everyone asks for SOME MORE! And my husband usually asks me "Why don't you make this more often?" You know what my reply was this time? "Why don't YOU make it sometime, honey?" It's so easy...chop an onion,  throw it in a skillet with some beef to brown, add soups, water & rice. Stir it up & bake it.  

Check it out...

Ingredients:

1 lb Hamburger (or ground turkey)

1 Med. Onion (chopped)

1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup

1 can Cream of Chicken Soup

1 can of Water

1/2 cup Uncooked Rice

Brown the hamburger & onion with lots of salt & pepper.

 Add water, soups and rice. 

Mix together.

Transfer into a casserole dish...

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

*I bake for 1 hour

(don't judge a book by it's cover)

Can I have SOME MORE please?!

I'm linking up for the 1st time ever
@
Balancing Beauty & Bedlam's
TASTY TUESDAY

Check it out - but I should warn you, you're gonna get hungry!

GQ Hubby in the House!

I beg my husband to let me dress him, and alas he never seems to like what I throw together.  He's what I call a 'skateboard cowboy'.  He loves his skate shoes, Levi's, graphic t's and/or button down western tops.  When we first started dating he was in a rock band and wore t's and baggy jeans all the time.  He's slowly transitioned into more fitted jeans, dressier skate shoes and some button downs.

 Here he is with my nephew Caleb a few years ago - Tshirt & Jeans.

 At our church's Film Festival - Tshirt & Jeans

At Culver's - Tshirt and jeans.

 I really wanted him to put on bow tie but he wouldn't.....

 I think we need to get him some frames of his own! 

Full body - no shoes ;-(  and I would have put him in darker jeans but alas - how cute is he after I styled him?!

A Simple and Yummy Macaroni & Cheese Recipe

Use equal parts of the following
Cottage cheese (small curd)

Shredded cheddar cheese
Elbow Macaroni (I used Bowtie)

Water

Place all ingredients in a baking dish.
Sprinkle with salt, pepper & garlic powder (to taste).
Stir it up.
Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes. 

An easy way to use “equal” parts is to use the cottage cheese container as your measuring cup. 

Before Baking...

After Baking & Cooling...

Our whole family enjoyed this dish.  There weren't any leftovers!

I used 2 cup measurements -

& when it came to seasoning, I dashed the salt & pepper on & measured out 1 tsp of garlic powder.

What I Wore (after I got home from work) Wednesday

My sister from Freckles & Fun always has the BESTEST Wednesday posts titled 'What I wore Wednesday'.  You should go check out today's post and the adorable purple shoes ~ I ♥ them (just wish we wore the same size).

She has inspired me!  Here is what I wore (when I got home from work) Wednesday.

 Black Pleather Hair Flower ~ from this tutorial - I made

 Check out the Jacket!!  I picked it up today at Goodwill for $3.29

 A.N.A. Jeans from JCP - gift carded them.  They remind me of Silver Jeans (I ♥ Silvers but alas refuse to pay the price tag.)  My awesome friend Krista scored a pair on clearance and rocked them at church on Sunday ~ I was a wee bit excited for her, just a wee bit...

Dana Buchman suede leather shooties ~ I ♥ them! Sale 22.99

 Necklace from Kohls - Clearance for $2.19

 So I think this is why this cute jacket was at Goodwill ~ missing button.

Perfect for me since the waist wasn't fitted enough and needed some altering!  I took off the 1 button it did have, moved it to the middle, stitched it up and buttoned both tabs over it!  With a little thread I got a fitted jacket with pleats in the back!

Back Stage Pass!!

You will probably laugh at me but I got the biggest high today at Goodwill!  

There was this desk stuffed way back behind all this other furniture.  I've been looking for a desk to re-do for my girls rooms (since I need to steal the last one I got at Goodwill for a sewing table).  This desk had no price tag so I ended up talking to the Manager who sold it to me for $14.99.  Solid wood ~ dovetail construction ~ adorable little feet & paintable pulls - YES!

Then he says 'would you like to come in the back and see our other furniture I haven't put out yet'?  HELLO - OMGoodness YES!!  Backstage pass at Goodwill = JACKPOT!!  They had a pair of really cute wing back orange chairs for $19.99 (but since I'm not skilled at re-upholstery... yet... I passed on those).  

I did find a great side table for our family room - solid wood - dovetail construction - cute feet - great lines - $5.99! 

Just image these ladies painted up with some cute hardware & maybe some decoupage on some drawers and/or tops!  Good thing its a holiday weekend!

Eli's 1st Birthday

Ohmygoodness!

Here we are 3 weeks later &

I just realized that aside from the post about my polka-dot garland,

 I never shared Eli's 1st birthday with you!

Our baby turned 1 on April 3rd...yep, it's been a year already.

I think just about every parent feels like their baby's first birthday approaches quicker than they would ever expect.

That's certainly the case for us!

As I told you in this blog post, we decided to throw a Mickey Mouse birthday party for Eli. It turned out great!

Rather than making all of our families travel to us & our small house, we took a lil road trip to them & had the party at my sister's house (The Thrift Store Rock Star).

Thanks Aunt Chelle & Uncle Pat for letting us borrow your house!

Grub time!

Our families are awesome!

They all helped us with the food which totally took my stress level down when it comes to party planning.

My dad made an amazing Mac & Cheese, Gram made her super yumm-o potato soup, My sister made an asian slaw & butterfinger grape salad dessert (recipe here), and mom & I supplied the fixings for turkey sandwiches & subs. Thank you family!!

 My talented Mother-in-law made Eli a Mickey Mouse cake!
It was awesome!!!!

So detailed & so cute! It was perfect - and delicious too!

All this singing!! For me??!!

 See that sneaky two year old in the corner?

He was quick to help Eli blow out his candle!

 He wasn't sure what to do with that giant Mickey shoe at first...but he figured it out!

He was pooped after all that singing & cake!

Hahahahahaha

Present time!

Eli got some great presents! He was given a mega block table, an activity table, a rattling ball that looks like a chicken, a bug themed drum/instrument set, a glow worm, some cars, books, a piggy bank & conviently some money to put in it!

The kids had fun playing with Eli's new toys!

We enjoyed the party with our very special family & close friends.

The Sweet Hillery Family & Our surprise guest!

She joined us all the way from Massachusetts!

Me & My Ashley Marie

(mentioned earlier in this post)

She's so good at surprises & I LOVE IT!