Autumn fun.

A couple nights ago we headed out to my parent's acreage to celebrate my birthday. (Some of you may be scratching your heads because my birthday was August 24th, but we've had a difficult time getting everyone's schedules to jive!)

My mom made a delicious supper! (Thanks, Mom!) Check out this Greek salad! Mmm....

And the cake. Wow! The name of this recipe is called "died-and-went-to-heaven-chocolate cake." The title is quite accurate. SO good! The cake is like a moist brownie and the frosting is chocolaty, but has a surprise twist with cream cheese.

The calorie information as listed in the cook book is:

'You don't want to know.' :)

Playing games.

Mom and Dad have a trampoline, so the hubster took C. out to bounce on it. My sisters had put dried corn on it, and C. loved the noise and crawling through it!

 C also loves my parent's golden retriever, Tucker.

 Fun times!

5 simple pleasures

1. New BH&Garden's in the mail.

(Love those felt coasters!)

2. Pomegranate!

3. Shopping trip with my sis to Forever21!

Yielded this darling top as well as a super awesome chunky brown belt that will be featured in an upcoming WIWW post.

4. These make me smile every time I see them.

They are salt and pepper shakers! They were my husband's grandma's.

5. Little bit'o green. House plants are a simple pleasure to me.

They brighten any room and lift my spirits!

Cool story: This plant is from a start my mom gave me. She cut a branch off  her plant and grew roots on it in water and then gave it to me to pot. The best part? The plant she took the start from was a plant my grandparents brought to the hospital when I was born!

                                                                I'm linking up over at:

An End and a Beginning

My 90 day challenge ended a few days ago. I am pleased with my results. Here is my before and after picture:

Good bye baby belly! I feel a lot better in my clothes, and have had more energy. Now I'm ready to start my next 90 day challenge.

Visalus.com, Wal-mart.com, don't remember :)

Recently, I asked my brother, who is a Crossfit Instructor and does some personal training, what exercises 

would recommend that would strengthen and tone my abs after having a baby. (Currently I still have a little muffin top) He recommended using a Kettlebell. He showed me the 'swing' technique and today I took the plunge and purchased one.                                                                                                                                                                                      

I'm also going to make a commitment to do a minimum of 20 burpees a day. (Maybe more as I get going.)

I love the accountability of setting a goal with a specific end point (90 days). If you want to learn more about the challenge, here's a short video:

 I'd love to have people join me! This is the fastest growing health challenge in the country. Last month 82,000 people started the challenge. What are you waiting for?

5 {sweet} things

1. Sweet baby boy.

2. New earrings.

3. New locket I made

4. Pears in my window ripening up to eat.

5. Melt....

I'm linking up over at:

Aunt Karna's Angel Hair Pasta

My aunt and uncle are missionaries overseas. For a while they were stationed in Italy and during that time my mom asked my aunt, "Can you please give me some authentic Italian recipes?" And this was one she sent. I've made a few changes, like adding garlic and onion.

You'll need:

2 Chicken breasts

2 cloves garlic

1/2 onion

2 T. olive/canola oil

1-2 small zucchini

1 head of broccoli

2-3 medium carrots

1 container grape/cherry tomatoes

2/3 cup chicken broth

1 t. basil (dry or 1/2 t. fresh)

 salt to taste 

Chop chicken and onion. Add minced garlic and oil. Saute in a large pan until chicken is cooked. 

 While that's cooking, chop carrots, zucchini, and broccoli.

(Broccoli not pictures because I used frozen.)

Add carrots to chicken and cook til carrots are just starting to get tender.

Then add the broccoli and cook until tender

.

 

Add zucchini and cook until tender. (Seeing a pattern here? :)

Add your basil to the chicken broth. Pour over veggie/chicken mixture and bring to a boil.

 

Chop tomatoes in half and add to the veggies and chicken.

Cook tomatoes down till they look like this:

 

Serve over angel hair pasta (I used whole wheat spaghetti) and top with parmesan cheese if desired.

More recipes to come soon! I had some requests for the ones found in my recent post about autumn.

Autumn favorites.

This week my 5 things are autumn themed! I love that the weather is getting chillier!

I like this idea to take a few minutes each week to think of 5 things I'm thankful for that have brightened my week.

1.I've been in a baking mood lately. First it was an apple pie because we got some apples from my parent's tree.

2. Then I made an apple cake with cream cheese frosting. 

3. Cherry Cake bars!

4. I joined the Scentsy band wagon yesterday. Love.

I got the Hampton warmer and Black Raspberry Vanilla scent. Mmmm...
Here it is on my piano.

5. One of my favorite things about fall; apple cider!

I'm linking up over at:

C's 13 month update

C turned 13 months just a few days ago. He is doing so many new things now! One of the things he does all the time is when he sees something he likes (Cell, phone, ceiling fan, dog, bottle, etc..) he smiles, points at it and makes a happy 'Ah! Ah!' noise.

Climbing is a new favorite. We have a park near our house and we're going there pretty often.

Climbing is not limited to the playground.

Currently anything is a toy. The less conventional the better.

The straightener is NOT plugged in, in case you were wondering.

C is eating all sorts of foods and is eating at regular mealtimes with snacks in between. Some of his favorite foods right now are goldfish crackers, grapes, pears, and yogurt bites.

Eating a rainbow.

C is now quite adept at opening cupboards, drawers, and doors and takes every available opportunity to show off his prowess. I'm also discovering he likes to put things 'in.'  This week I found a baseball in with the pots and pans, a maraca in with my dish towels, my blush brush in the toilet, and a measuring cup in the washing machine. Yeah.

He still likes to put all of his toys up on the coffee table, but is also enjoying walking around with things too. Speaking of walking, C is doing a lot more of it, and it's starting to turn into running now too. 

I'm bustin' outta here!

C has learned a few body parts; belly, head, and nose. He will perform selectively. He's also learning the names for things. If I say, "Where's  your tiger/giraffe/fire truck?" he'll go find it. He also likes to play hide and seek and peek around corners and furniture.

Playing with Daddy!

C loves playing with other kids! He is starting to get a bit more assertive though if he doesn't want something taken away from him.

"So big!"

This is such a fun age! He is so happy and life is a big adventure. There's always something to check out and explore. I love watching him toddle around.

 With Uncle Joe.

 Tigger's stuck, Mom!