We have ...

... and Elf on the Shelf!

His name is Sly and Bret and I enjoy it more than Magoo does. He showed up last year and decided to come back again this year.

When he first showed up in 2014

He flew in the on black Flriday.. A little early but to us that is the start of the Christmas season. This year since we are currently at my parents, My little Sister and Brother are enjoying looking around for Sly every morning. They read the story so they know not to touch him but that he is listening to them.

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

 (Bret sang I came in like a wrecking ball,. No wait I came in like a dradle when we found him here) 

Day 5

Day 6

 So Far he has been pretty low key. I can't wait to see what else we come up with, Its hard for us to figure some stuff out because we have a dog and Magoo is 1 so he will want to touch him. Do you have an elf? What were some of your favorite things that he did?

Shorter post tonight, I'm so tired I'm falling asleep on my keyboard. I will have an update to the 30 before 30 soon!!

Until Next time...

Spinach Artichoke Dip.....

...Made by me In the Crockpot!

Recipe courtsey of Pinterest and sixsistersstuff.com

All right, its football season and for some of the Eagles games we have parties. Not all of them and not always big games, but we have fun anyway. And on a fall day there is nothing better than a hot dish.

I decided I wanted to make some spinach- artichoke dip. I am so happy with it. IT WAS DELICIOUS! Here's what you will need...

 14 oz Artichoke Hearts, chopped and drained. 

(*Now I am no artichoke expert. I THINK I bought the wrong ones. All i had to do was rinse them in water and got the seasoning and oil off the best i could. They still worked great!*

1 10 oz package of frozen chopped spinach, drained.

1/2 cup Sour Cream

*I used friendship dairies, it was on sale at ShopRite, you can use whatever brand you love*

1/2 cup mayo

*Mayo can be any kind you want. I prefer Hellmans Mayo SNOB to the max*

1 Cup finely chopped onion

*Helpful Hint: ALWAYS get your husband or anyone else to chop the onions, my eyes were burning so bad!*

1 clove garlic minced

* we love garlic so i used 3- seriously garlic is a food group in our family*

what you're supposed to use...

what i used ;)

1/4 cup grated mozzarella cheese

*again we used what was on sale at shoprite, use whatever brand you love and or whatever is on sale*

1/4 teaspoon garlic salt.

Okay I forget to get the picture of this, but this is the kind of garlic salt I used.

1/4 cup milk

*whole milk from target*

1 8oz packet of cream cheese-cubed.

*there is a theme here, it was on sale use whatever floats your boat for cream cheese*

Salt and Pepper to taste

I didn't add, but everyone added if they wanted too. 

Okay BEFORE you start, spray your crock pot with non-stick spray. It really made a difference.

Now you want to throw ALL of that into a blow and mix, you want to make sure its all mixed pretty well before adding to the crock pot.

Once mixed throw it into the crock pot & 

add the cream cheese cubes evenly throughout 

Turn that bad boy on high for 2 hours. 

Check it around an hour, if everything is hot, it's done. 2 hours is recommended to make sure everything gets cooked through.

Mix in the cream cheese and serve.

 It was delicious!

My taste-testers

My Taste-Testers part 2

The only picture I could get of the finished product

Now it says that the prep time was only 10 minutes. I am NO where near a chef. It took me at least 30 mins to prep. But then again I had issues with onions, and forgot to defrost the spinach. 

Try it out. Let me know if you liked it! We sure did!

Until Next time....

Motherhood is...

...fishing your kids shit out of the tub.

Tonight was bath night. I attempt every other night with Magoo. He loved the bath, it was his favorite. Now? nope not going to happen. He starts to scream before i even get his clothes off. This is a new development. I think i figured it out though. A few weeks back while the tub was filling up he pulled the tab and on came the shower. Oh no no no no no, Magoo was not having that.

Tonight I tried a different tactic. Instead of running the water with him in the room, I started the water before he got in the tub, Well that worked, sorta. Once I got the water where it should be not too hot, not too cold. Just enough in the tub. now came the hard part. I had to undress the magoo, and then get him in the tub.

So I tried it slowly, I sat him on the side of the tub and wet his feet with the cup for a while. Then it was time to go. And he was not happy. He cried and told me ALL DONE. There is a video, I sent it to Nikki, it was so pathetic it was adorable. We had some cheering, and dancing and singing. and I was able to get him in the tub. It was great! Then he did it, there was a grunt, and floaters. Yep he took a shit right in the tub.*sigh* Now comes the fun part....

Of course I fished out the poo, Welcome to Motherhood, and you thought it was just diapers, vomit, and kisses. Boy were you wrong! This has happened twice at this point, which is no big deal. But this means I need to add more water. So we drain the tub and start the singing, cheering and dancing again. This worked through tears and screaming and more ALL DONE. But alas, Mommy won. Magoo got a bath, splashed, laughed, and had fun.

And as much as I hate to see my son cry, especially when it comes to his bath. I am that much happier that we were able to get him through the hard part... tonight at least. 

Tomorrow may be a different story. Only Time will tell.  

As always, until next time....

30 before 30...

Ive wanted to start a bucket list. I sorta have, but now I am giving myself a limit. 4 years, I am 25 will be 26 in January. I want to have this done by the time I am 30. If not all of it at least some. Now there is one big thing on here that we all know was just completed. I did get some ideas from bucketlist.org if you are needing some inspiration or some help.

1)Travel Abroad

2) Get Married

3)Run a 5k

4) Buy a house

5) Adopt a puppy

6) Go skydiving

7) Have a honeymoon

8) Lose 20 pounds

9) Grow my blog

10) Witness a proposal

11) Be a maid of honor

12) Treat someone to a Random Act of Kindness 

13) Go an entire week without social media

14) Visit the florida keys

15) Go ice skating at Rockefeller Center

16) Go horseback riding

17) Pay off my debt

18) Do a cleanse

19) Sew a quilt

20) Have a cousins reunion

21) Go on a girls only weekend

22) Send Bret to Tallahassee for a FSU game

23) Get a couples massage

24) Buy a NEW car

25) Have another baby

26) See the rockettes during Christmas

27) Vacation in California

28) Donate my hair

29) Serve food during the holidays

30) Start a new family tradition

So there we have it, my 30 before 30. I hope to have more and more checked off sooner rather than later. I cant wait to see how long it will take to complete. Hopefully its does turn into 40 before 40!

What's on your bucket list, or 30 before 30?

As always, until next time...

November means....

...Sharing what you are thankful for.

In all actuality we should remind everyone what we are thankful for all the time. But november having thanksgiving makes everyone a little more thankful.

I am going to try to post a thankful blog more than just in november. But lets be honest, that might not happen. You've all gathered that by now, huh?

Tonight, right now I am so thankful for my mom. We don't see eye to eye ALL the time. That is common with mothers and daughters. But next to my husband my mom is my best friend. I tell her everything, and once a day I say or do something that confirms it. I am just like my mom.

My mom ha shown me what it means to be a great mother. I am learning from the best! There is nothing better than knowing you have people in your corner at all times. I now as a mom understand the depth you can have for someone. I tell her all the time. I hope I'm half the mom you are. growing up we wanted for nothing. Mom always found a way to keep us happy. Granted it was in the 90's so having the latest ipad was not even a option. But mom showed us what family is about and what it means to put your kids first.

I know i do things to drive her absolutely insane, and vice versa. But that's how we work.

I couldn't imagine a better person to look up to and idealize. I hope I make her proud every day.

So for my first thankful post in the month of November, I am thankful for my mom.

Because the sun is shining...

... It really is a great day.

I was talking to my best friend and asked her, what should I blog about today, i need inspiration. she said you're getting married, blog about that. That is what Wednesday is for. So i decided to blog about how i am grateful.

I am grateful first and foremost that I woke up this morning. Because lets be honest. Thats always a sign of a great day. The sun was shining, my son was laughing and we had a few minutes to hang out... maybe i kept repeating, no, dnt do that. look its George. stop kicking me. just snuggle me. LET ME LOVE YOU. but it was our time.

I am grateful that my son is home with his dad during the day. I never went to daycare. I had the luck to be home with my mom and mam when i was little. I didn't need daycare. I am grateful that our schedules work out so that Magoo is home with daddy. Amd i am SUPER grateful that he has a daddy that is a really good daddy.

We have family around us. we have a lot of love and laughter surrounding us all the time. What more is there that one can ask for. I am so grateful that we had the opportunity to make this move and have a new start together.

I am going to marry my best friend, my rock and the only person that understands me by a look on my face. I am grateful that I found him 10 years ago

I am just happy to be where I am in my life, with my family and friends. Its good to every once in a while to step back and look at what you have. It could be worse, we are very lucky to be where we are.

Until next time...