My Goals for 2016

I decided I wanted to set some goals for the new year. I'm not usually one for the new year new me, but this year has been a year of major growth for me and I can't wait to see what 2016 has in store for us! So first a reflection of 2015. This year has tested me in every sense yet here I am on the last day of the year feeling better,stronger and happier than ever. In February we decided to take a job opportunity my husband got for Florida. The boys and I are still in Maryland and hoping to get to Florida in the next couple months. I have had my moments where it got to be tiring not having him here but at the same time I proved to myself I can do this. I feel it's made me a better Mom and made me more aware of taking the time to spend with the boys together and individually. It's also helped me grow as an individual. I have always been SO worried about what everyone else thinks of me, my marriage, my family etc this past year I have learned that it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks it only matters what I think. I can't control others feelings. I have to stop worrying about everyone elses needs and happiness and focus on my own. I'm sure others don't take my feelings and happiness into account when making decisions so why should I? Even though Zack has been 1000 miles away most of the year I feel we have all grown as a family, as parents and as husband and wife. I am a firm believer everything happens for a reason. There have been many who haven't agreed with our decision for him to move before we all do but I knew we were doing what is best for our family and it proves true even months later.


So here are my 3 goals for 2016:

Myself: Focus on my own happiness; take time for me and do what makes me happy without worrying what anyone else thinks.

Motherhood: Take time to unplug and spend time with the boys. Take them on individual dates once a month.

Marriage: Make date nights/ alone time a priority. I have realized I am way more relaxed and fun when it's just me and the hubby and it's so important to still have that side of us.

I would love to hear your goals for 2016!

Goody Bags and Cupcakes(Lego Birthday Party)

Back to our awesome lego party! I just had so much fun planning this party and my son thought it was totally awesome! So for the goody bags I found some knock off legos pictured below in the dollar section of Target. I gave each kid a half a bag.

For the bags I bought a 12 pack of plain yellow bags at Michaels and drew Lego faces on them :)

I also found Lego candies at our local cake/candy store called Stephanies Sweets so I packaged them in little bags and tied them with ribbon :)

I also added a Marshmallow pop from my previous post to each kids bag.

 I went simple with the cake/cupcakes this year and just topped them with those same candies and used blue and red liners. I still think they turned out adorable!

4th of July wreath!

I have been really wanting to play around with some wreaths. My first wreath was a balloon happy birthday themed one a post to come on that later. This is my second one and I'm pretty proud of it :)
I saw a few online and knew that I wanted something that resembled the american flag but also something a little different. Once I saw the chevron ribbon in Michaels I knew that was it! I purchased all my supplies from Michaels; one straw wreath, one roll of blue ribbon, 3 rolls of red and white chevron ribbon, a package of white flowers, some little star decoration and a letter A. It only cost me $15! I love Michaels and there coupons :)

I left the wreath wrapped in the plastic and then started wrapping the ribbon all the way around it to cover the front and back of it. I hot glued each end of the ribbon. One roll of the blue ribbon was the perfect amount to give it the flag feel. I also hot glued the flowers on. I picked these because they resembled stars but you could also use felt stars or buttons. The final finishing touches were the little star decorations and monogram letter. I will be using this wreath for years to come. Perfect addition to our door!

 

Lego Man marshmallow pops (part of Lego Birthday)

This year we ran through a lot of ideas of what to do for Lucas' birthday party. My first thought was to just do it at the bouncy place then I wouldn't have to clean up before or after the party or worry too much about decorations and food. But I love planning these parties so that part is fun for me. Then we played with the idea of renting a bounce house to put in the yard but then Lucas said Mommy why don't we just have a lego party at the house. Great idea kiddo! Instantly all the ideas I had seen on pinterest before started running through my head lol I am going to do separate posts for each project since some are very in depth :)

The first project I started was the lego man marshmallow pops. This called for lollipop sticks, large and small marshmallows and yellow candy melts :)

Before dipping them in chocolate I cut the little marshmallows in half dipped the bottom of them in the chocolate and stuck it to the top of the big marshmallow. I let that dry so it would slip and slide around and then proceeded with dipping the whole thing

 Here's a little video showing how I was dipping the marshmallows in the melted chocolate.

 And I used a strainer to stick them in while drying

Drew on them with edible pen then wrapped them up and we were all set. I set a portion out for guests but also placed one in each goody bag.

Chicken Alfredo

Hello All!
Here today to share one of our favorite recipes. Chicken Alfredo! This alfredo sauce is amazing and just as good if not better than what you'll find in the restaurants.

This is a recipe you'll have to multi-task for but it's well worth it.
Here's what you'll need, plus the chicken  :)

 First I cut the chicken into small pieces and let it set in italian dressing. No certain amount, use your best judgement.

Next I start boiling water for the pasta. 

And start cooking the chicken.

Once you get those two things going you can start on the sauce.

First I add the butter to a pot.

Once the butter is melted add your heavy cream

Get those two mixed in together and then add your parmesan cheese 1/2 cup at a time

Give it sometime for the cheese to melt before you add more

When all the cheese is mixed in I let it cook a little longer to finish melting the cheese and let the flavors mix.

Here's a picture of the finished product of everything mixed together

Chicken Alfredo

Ingredients:

1 pint heavy cream

1/2 cup butter

1 1/2 c shredded parmesan cheese

1 lb pasta (any kind you like)

1 lb chicken

1. Cut chicken into bite size pieces

2. Marinate in italian dressing

3. Boil pasta according to pkg

4.Cook chicken over medium heat in skillet

5.Melt butter in pot over low medium

6. Add heavy cream

7.Add parmesan cheese 1/2 c at a time

8. Cook until sauce is smooth and all cheese is melted.

8. Once everything is finished mix together and Enjoy!

Would love to hear your feedback if you try this recipe.

Halloween Craft

We had recently emptied a jelly jar and some spaghetti sauce jars I decided to wash them out and save them instead of tossing them as I normally would. I had been thinking of a fun easy and cheap halloween craft to do with the boys. This is what we came up with

We used some white tissue paper and since I could find orange tissue paper at the time we used streamers. Also used mod podge and then black construction paper for the faces. And voila they are our new ghost and jack o lantern decorations. I also popped in some battery powered tea lights to light them up :) This is now one of our favorite Halloween decorations!

Make your own rotisserie chicken

       Wow didn't realize it's been a month since my last post I really will get better with this! Life is about to get really crazy around here. Monday is Lucas' very first day of school. I can't believe the big day is this close. Zack starts back at college on Wednesday while also working a part time job and Lucas has started rec soccer which is every Wednesday and Saturday! Seeing as our life is about to get very busy and very little time for cooking I stocked up on some ingredients for crock pot meals and we recently tested a new one out.
       This past weekend we tried making our own "rotisserie" style chicken. Now I don't have a rotisserie oven but this pretty much does the trick.Unfortunately I don't have any exact measurements for you. We first started by cutting up some potatoes into little cubes and placed them on the bottom of crockpot.  Then we sprinkled the seasonings(list below) just enough to cover them up. We took a big spoon and mixed it all up real good to make sure the potatoes were evenly coated. Then we placed the chicken on top and rubbed the seasonings into the chicken. Covered with lid and put the crock pot on high for 5 hours. Sounds easy enough right?! We threw a bag of frozen corn in the microwave and walah dinner was done. Perfect for those crazy school days soccer nights :)

Seasonings used:

Italian seasoning

Paprika

Old Bay

Rosemary

Garlic Powder

Onion Powder

Here's a pic before it started cooking: