Choo Choo! Joel is 2!

happy birthday, buddy.

I made his cake. I'm very proud of it )


he LOVED his cake!

He got a ball maze!


A digger.

And, of course, his train.


We love you, bud. Happy birthday.

My Nap Time Project

Well, I've started a little bit of a project :) I really want to make Joel giving up his bed to the baby a big and happy deal! So, I had the idea of making him a new blanket/quilt for him. And let me tell you... I haven't made a quilt before ever. And this was really intimidating. I really feel like I've accomplished a lot. Only the cutting out of the applique is done. Not any of the real 'sewing' part. But I'm proud. I feel like I'm doing something that I could possibly love to do.

I'm so proud :)


















Like how my belly snuck into this last one? Only a week and a half left!

Maybe I'll post some pictures :)

Look!

Ah ha! My garden is officially growing! Look at me... I'm a natural :)

Cilantro sprouts!

Two of the MANY tomatoes I have growing.

And two tiny peppers growing.

No bell peppers yet. but there are a lot of buds on them. I'm way excited becuase i thought i killed all my plans. My tomatoes were looking VERY homely but I got some fertilizer from my mom and they perked up the next day! Yay!

I'm a good cook.

So... I've been kind of branching out lately in my cooking adventures. Mostly thanks to a friend who inspires me. (check her out. her stuff is amazing. Lilliansfood.blogspot.com ) I've made two dishes in the past two nights that have been added to our new favorites.

The first is Creamy Tomato Sauce. All thanks to Lillian, this sauce is a new "toney staple".
the picture looks digusting... but i'm telling you. it is soooo good! i added fresh mushrooms and italian sausage in there and i'm telling you.... divine!

Plus, joel is a big fan of any kind of pasta.



and... so is pippi (my mom and dad's dog.)


But i think the real deal is that my dad ate it. my dad, who is not a fan of pasta, ate two servings.

But then there was tonight. I bought some dried tomatoes and i really wanted to try some sort of creamy sauce to go with them. So i took my very amazing Alfredo sauce and gave it a little twist.

The creation was probably one of my triumphs as a cook.
AMAZING Tomato Alfredo:
1 Pkg creme cheese
16 oz sour creme
1 can creme of mushroom soup
2 cloves of garlic
1 Pkg of sun dried tomaotes
1/2 can of tomato paste
Romano Cheese it to taste
Add as many or as little of mushrooms as you like
season to taste (i use and italian blend.)

mix it all to gether over a warm stove and mmmmmmmmm. sooo tasty.


I made some for Becca (our roomate) and her boyfriend Chris, so i'll have to let them try it and add in their imput.

Talents:
I can cook.