wow.

Thank you guys so much!
I am so excited for the outcome, so many people!
Thanks for help spread the word too!

If we get 100 followers, I will do another giveaway!

Alrighty, onto the exciting part!

here's the random.org thingy:

#6 is the winner!
...which would be
JULIE
who said:
follow your blog as jelaws5

"Love the skirt and the "silly 2 girls" are darling :)"


K Julie, email me at stufflyssamakes@gmail.com so I can get your info!

Thanks again ladies.  Giveaways are fun!  we'll do another once I get 100 followers so spread the word!

exploration.

About 3 weeks ago, we wanted to see what central WA has to offer.  So on Joe's day off, we headed out to Wenatchee, WA.  On the way,  or so we thought, was George, WA...get it?  It's famous for The Gorge Amphitheatre.  And me being the idiot that I am...sometimes....thought we could just head on over and check out the view from the amphitheatre.  We got off our designated road to check it out...

20 minutes later, we are still driving towards it....major detour....only to find that it's totally fenced off under lock and key.  I guess they were getting ready for Dave Matthews Band performing that coming weekend.

SOooo we headed back and proceeded to Wenatchee.

Very pretty.

East of the Cascades.

We stopped for lunch and played in a park down by the river...(not a van) haa.

Joe loves to explore past the designated "play" area and climb down rocks to get next to the river.  And in the process, he came across some gross things...like a pile of human poop and a dollar bill that had been used to wipe the human poop.  I do not lie.

Of course I had to take a picture...but i'll spare you it...because it seriously will haunt you....maybe later.

So that was the highlight of Wenatchee.

We headed through the Stevens Pass towards Seattle.  Originally we were only visiting Wenatchee but looking at the clock, we had plenty of time to swing over to the west coast....cough.

here are some pics of a place we stopped by right outside of Seattle.  The blackberries are on every roadside, but just watch out for the humoungous spiders that live within the bushes.

This is probably the only smile we got from Luke on the trip.

He loves HATES to be strapped in, especially long intervals of time...like this one.

We drove through Bellevue, ate at Red Robin then headed straight home.  We arrived there around 12 AM.

I am still recooperating from that one.

good morning.

The best mornings growing up was to a stack of pancakes or waffles.
I LOVE waffles really.
When I was pregnant with my 2nd, I would make them every day for lunch.
They are easing to serve and eat.
Now my 3rd loves them, especially for breakfast.

So to pass this happiness along, here's my favorite recipe for Crisp and Golden Waffles:

1 egg
2 c. flour
1/4 c. vegetable oil
1 1/2 c. milk
3 Tbsp. sugar
3 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla

In medium bowl, beat egg until frothy. Add remaining ingredients; mix until smooth. Add a heaping 1/3 c batter to preheated wafflemaker. Close unit and bake according to your machine. (I say this because it says 5-6 minutes but for my wafflemaker, it's done in 2 minutes) Carefully remove waffle (lightly re-oil the cooking surface if sticking occurs.) Repeat with remaining batter.
Yields 7 waffles.

here's to a good morning!

PS- LOVE the response to the giveaway!  Thank you guys!  Todays the LAST DAY so head on over and grab your chance at the skirt :)
Maybe once I get 100 followers, i'll do another fun thing....hmmm?

best. cookies. ever.

***Don't forget!  Skirt giveaway is still going on.  Hurry and go HERE!  You have until the 16th at midnight :)***

I am starting to have an addiction.

Whenever we are bored around here, I bust out the mixing bowl and we whip up some chocolate chip cookies.

And I can say that I might have found the best chocolate chip cookie recipe.

seriously.

I found it when we lived in Vegas.  My friend Ashley was so nice to share it with her friends.

I tried them and I was hooked!

So I want to pass that knowledge along to you!

Ingredients:

-2 1/4 c. flour                                                                       

-1 tsp. baking soda

-1 tsp. salt

-1 stick of butter, softened

-4 oz. cream cheese, softened

-3/4 c. sugar

-3/4 packed brown sugar

-1 tsp. vanilla

-2 large eggs

-1 3/4 c. chocolate chips (any kind you'd like...and I usually just dump in a whole bag!)

Step One: Combine flour, baking soda, salt and set aside.

Step Two: Cream together butter, cream cheese, both sugars, and vanilla.  Add eggs one at a time.

Step Three:  Gradually mis in the flour mixture.

Step Four: Stir in Chocolate Chips

Step Five: Prepare baking sheets

Step Six: Sneak some cookie dough....

Step Seven: Form Dough into about a Tablespoon Size Ball & Bake at 375 degrees for 9-11 minutes.  I have found about 9 1/2 - 10 minutes is perfect but you'll figure it out ;)

They are delicious and stay soft for a long time!  Enjoy!



lukey-poo

*sigh*

i love this kid.

He is now 10 months, fitting in to 18 month clothes, as you can see below:

He's finally decided walking is the way to go.
His loves:
grapes, strawberries, blueberries, waffles, pancakes, all juices, water and whole milk, baths, outdoors, his tigger couch, toys that make noise, climbing the stairs, dancing, music, clapping, eating markers, getting into the bathroom, peekaboo, sisters and their attention, Baby Mozart, binky and blanket, Mom, DAD.

His Hates:
diaper changes, getting dressed, getting out of the tub, car seat, rice, potatoes, eating infront of him and not sharing, the gate blocking the stairs, taking markers away from him, closing the door to the bathroom.

can we just pause time?

turning 5.

When did my daughter decide to get so big?!
Gearing up for her birthday party in a few weeks. Here's a sneak at her invitation I just finished up tonight.
I'll keep the camera close as I get things ready for the party and the party itself!

Featured!

Megan over at Crazy Domestic is featuring me!!

What a great site.  I'm so glad she contacted me.  I had no idea about it!

It's got ideas, tutorials, giveaways, linky parties and so much more!

You need to go check it out!!
Click on the button to head over there.