a little thing that's called life. (and crazy kids)

hello all!  It's been far too long since my last post and i have greatly missed blogging and all of you ladies!  my kids have kept my hands full over the past few months and i seriously have been struggling to find any time to myself.  when i do find free time, i just don't even want to think.  haha!  i'm sure you all understand, but i thought i'd explain it all in a nutshell :)

anyway... is everyone looking forward to the holidays?  dave's family will be down here for 10 days to celebrate Christmas with us again.  we always have such a wonderful time with them.  lots of laughs, relaxing and good food. 

this year i'm especially excited as it will be my baby boy's First Christmas!  not only that, but my little girl is 3 now, and she's at that age where she understands what's going on.  the other night, she found the present stash in my walk-in closet.  when i told her she had to wait to open presents till Christmas day, she started crying her cute little eyes out.  it was sad, but so awesome at the same time!  i love getting to see Christmas though her eyes!

okay, well i can't stay on much longer, but here's my kids Christmas picture:

 

Guest Blog - S'mores Cookie Bars

Hello fellow bloggers!

My name is Ashlee from The Crafty Dough Puncher and I am so excited to guest blog on all things aimee!

I love to bake, sew, and do crafts of any kind. My blog is quite the mix of desserts and everything crafty.  When Aimee asked me to do a guest blog for her, I knew immediately I wanted to make a fun "summer" dessert you can make year-round!  I went on the search for a s'more dessert and found the perfect one!

S'mores Cookie Bars

 recipe from Lovin in the Oven

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease an 8-inch baking pan.

 

 Here's what you need:

1/2 C butter, room temperature

1/4 C brown sugar

1/2 C sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/3 C all purpose flour

3/4 C graham cracker crumbs

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

4 Hershey bars

1 1/2 C marshmallow creme or fluff

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light.  Beat in egg and vanilla.

In another bowl, whisk together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt.  Add to the butter mixture and mix on a low speed until combined.  Divide dough in half and press half of the dough into an even layer on the bottom of the pan.

Place chocolate bars evenly over the dough -

Spread chocolate with marshmallow creme or fluff -

Place remaining dough on top of the fluff. It's easiest to flatten the dough and place it piece by piece on top.  Bake for 30-35 minutes, until lightly browned.  Cool completely before cutting.  These are great warm and at room temperature!

They are gooey and messy but oh so yummy to eat!

Happy baking!

*All photos courtesy of B. Kern*

all things averie.

well, this past sunday (sept. 5th) was Averie's birthday and my sister was down visiting for a few days.  unfortunately my husband had to work everyday last weekend, so we just went to mcdonalds, starbucks and lowe's.  (all of which were Averie's choice)  I mean, what kid in their right mind doesn't love mcdonalds?  and starbucks... haha!  don't worry - no coffee for this kid!  she loves the strawberries & cream frappuccino.  AND lowe's (her favorite place on earth where she got to run around like crazy and see her daddy.  :)   it really was a fun day!

here's a picture of my beautiful girl on her birthday.  isn't she cute?

things have been a little crazy.

on friday we took a family day trip up to greenville, sc to meet up with some friends and had a blast!  here are some pics:

a view of the cute restaurant we ate at - brick street cafe.

the liberty bridge at falls park

me and the kids strolling on the bridge

the best of many family photos - averie would not stay still!

view of the reedy river and the falls down below

great friends, beth and neil.

beth and i on a super cute bridge over the reedy.

the trip was way too short for my liking.  beth and i used to be roommates and we hadn't seen each other for a good 4 years.  can you all believe this girl is almost 1/2 way through her pregnancy with her second child??  how much more fabulous can someone look with a baby in their tummy?  so jealous! 

things are looking bright.

i finally made a real header for my blog!  what do you think?  did you like the old, simple one?  or do you think the new one should stay?  i'd love everyone's honest opinion!

today i actually got to sit down on my plush sofa, enjoy a cup of hot coffee (i drink mine black), and flip through my new better homes and gardens magazine and the latest j.crew catalog.  this moment of bliss only lasted about 20 minutes, but hey - i couldn't have hoped for any more time than that!  it's things like this that keep me from feeling like someone who's only purpose is to cook, clean, change poopy diapers, and deal with tantrums and crying.  writing my blog is also therapeutic like that!

anyway...

how cute are these books?  my mother in-law made them for the kids and even bought the real paper-paged little golden books too!  this way Finn's not trying to grab at the pages and annoying his big sister while i'm reading :)  thanks grandma!

shoe and food things.

shoe things

i was browsing anthropologie's site today, and i stumbled on these beauties: 

athenaeum wedges by coclico - $428

i think they're the most amazing pair of booties ever!  rugged & masculine with a touch of lady-likeness!

food things.

i'm sure you've all been dying to know what aimee's favorite sandwich of all time is, right?  well, even if you weren't, i'm going to tell you anyway because i'm just that nice!

tomato & fresh mozzarella on a french baguette. 

the condiment cup has olive oil with a bit of garlic powder, basil and cracked pepper. (it's better with fresh basil, but i didn't have any on hand, so i settled with dried basil)

all you do is slice the bread, lay the tomatoes and mozz down in there, drizzle with the olive oil, throw it on the george foreman for 30 seconds just to warm the outside of the bread and serve!  it's so yummy - you will not regret making this.  trust me!

random.

this week really flew by and i think it's because Dave has had more days off this week than he's had since he started his job.  we recently went through a 16 day stretch where he only had 2 days off, so this is practically a vacation for us!  saturday morning i'm taking the kids to the local farmer's market and am hoping that Dave and my father in-law will join us.  i like to get out as much as i can because i'm pretty much trapped in my apartment all day long most of the time.  it's tough only having one vehicle and not being able to bring the baby out into this 100+ degree weather.  i'm highly anticipating fall right now!

10 things about me. (sugar doll)

i have been passed the sugar doll award by the lovely and ever fabulously fashionable Cat from anthrosdottir.

(please check out her blog if you haven't already)

so ladies, this means that i get to share with you 10 things about myself that you all don't know.  this will be tough, but i'm going to try and keep you all throughly entertained.  :)

1. after high school i was all set to attend the art institute of philidelphia to major in fashion design (a dream i had since i was 10 years old).  however, my life took me in a different direction and i ended up going to bible college in dubuque, iowa for a couple of years and then went on to do a 2 year long goldsmithing and silversmithing apprenticeship under an incredibly talented master who also became one of my best friends in the process.  and even though my original life plan never came to be, i ended up finding just what i needed -  joy and peace in my spiritual life, and also the gift of a talent that i was unaware that even existed.  pretty awesome stuff!

2. i used to love playing soccer with my sister and brother when we were kids.  it was always them against me.  i always won - which probably why i miss it.  hahaha!

3. i played softball for 13 years of my life.  i'm left handed, so naturally first base was my position.  i loved everything about that sport!  and i'm not really a competitive person normally, but when i was out on the field, you better bet you'd catch me constantly talking smack to the other teams!  hahaha!

4. when i was young i used to be able to climb up doorways like a crazy spider and then i'd prop my feet against one side of the door and my back against the other and sit there for extended periods of time.  i think i might be too big for that now?

5.  i hate scary movies.  like really hate them.  it had been maybe 7 years since i'd seen one up until about 2 months ago when i thought it was a good idea to watch 'paranormal activity'.  holy crap... i couldn't sleep for two days straight!  bad bad bad idea! 

6. i love making up my own ridiculous lyrics to songs.  but the worst is when i'm singing a song seriously (with lots of added emotion for good measure) and then it comes to me... i've been singing the wrong freaking lyrics for the past 10 years.  *faceplam*

7. i'm pretty sure the grossest word ever invented is "panties", and if you say it out loud you'll know what i mean.  i much prefer "underwear".

8. i love dressing my children and buying them clothes.  it's hard for me to allow anyone else to take part in that with me because i'm so extremely picky about what they wear - even more so than i am about my own wardrobe!

9. the only thing i miss about pregnancy is that i can't justify eating fruity pebbles 3 times a day anymore.

10. my teeny bopper crushes included Leonardo DiCaprio, Taylor Hanson (don't make fun - he's hot) & Nick Carter.  i totally used to collect Teen Beat mags and tear through them to find pictures that i could put in my 2" binder with protective plastic pages.  i would flip through and daydream about marrying them on an almost daily basis.

wow.  i feel so exposed.

hope you all have a great night!

creme brûlée.

this week has been nothing short of complete chaos.  Finn has been a complete wreck for 3 days straight.  i've had minimal sleep and have had moments where i just wanted to call it quits with this mommy business.  if it weren't for bare essentuals "warmth", my face would look like a hot mess!  i swear, that stuff really has super powers built into it.  i go from having the appearance of a zombie to looking like i'm ready to take over the world with a few swishes of a make-up brush.  oh, how i wish i could  apply a nice layer of that onto my inner being!

okay - i'm sure you all have heard of my parental woes enough, so let us get to something fun!

what good is a post without food? 

homemade creme brulee.  it was supremely delicious, one of the best i've ever had.  this my first try too! :)

here's the recipe i followed.

oh, and since i didn't have a kitchen torch, i just used my broiler to caramelize the sugar on top (which is why it looks weird).  but trust me, it tastes just as good!

perfect summery thing.

my husband bought this dress for me last month!  it's so perfect for the scorching hot weather we've been having here in south carolina lately.  i've already worn it 3 times and love it more and more each time.  i'm also pretty sure my hips have finally started coming back in since having Finn 5 months ago, so i don't feel nearly as wide as i did the first time i tried it on.  yay!

well, i'm so glad that David has the day off tomorrow.  by the time he gets home tonight, i will have only seen him for 2 hours out of 32.  i've been pretty stressed these past two days and really need a break.  being a stay at home mother is so completely mentally and emotionally draining and some days i wonder how i'm going to make it through.  i've been having an exceedingly difficult time with my daughter who's behavior has been the opposite of wonderful lately.  i don't know what it is, but i'm sure hoping obedience is right around the corner!   i think what makes things so hard is that i'm not sure if her behavior is my fault.  i try so hard with her, but it seems like my efforts do nothing, and it's depressing at times.  but i guess i just have to keep pushing forward, continue to do my best, and hope that things change.

happy thursday!

-aimee

OH!  one more thing...

(my friend had this on his facebook page today and for some reason i couldn't stop laughing for a good 5 minutes straight.  maybe i'm overtired?  but i still think it's hilarious!)

a bunch of things about my day.

good evening lovelies!  today was an uneventful day.  david and i were trying to recuperate from this past week, and weren't really feeling like doing much of anything.  so, we stayed in with the kids and entertained them with our mad parenting skills.  

it has been so hot here in south carolina these past couple of weeks.  the air is too sticky and stagnant to allow for much time spent outdoors.  and our apartment is starting to annoy us because our a/c doesn't seem to want to function properly.  when we turn it on this place turns into a freezer within minutes, but once we turn it off it becomes uncomfortably hot just as quickly.  the maintenance guys swear there's nothing wrong with it, but i beg to differ.

today was the first day EVER that i allowed david to take photos of me for this blog.  i usually do them myself using the timer on my trusty point and shoot, but for some reason all of my pictures were coming out blurry and i couldn't stand it anymore, so i gave in and asked him.  i don't know why, but i find posing for blog pics in front of my husband to be sort of embarrassing.  

here's one of my favorite meals for the summer!

*linguine with hot chile, caramelized onion & gremolata*

it's a quick, easy, light, spicy and filling dish.  oh, and it's sooo delicious!  if anyone wants the recipe, let me know.  i'd be more than willing to share.  it's usually a huge hit with friends :)

the scariest thing.

i've been MIA lately because we had a scare with my baby boy and i haven't been able to take my eyes off of him since Tuesday.  Finn is 4 months old and has severe reflux issues.  it's so bad that he was spitting up 40-50 times a day and the only thing the pediatrician would give him was zantac to keep him more comfortable.  well, on Tuesday i was on the phone with my brother and he asked me to read an e-mail he had forwarded to me.  well, my 3 year old started causing a ruckous and when i looked over at her, she was under the jumperoo that Finn was in.  i looked up at Finn and he was white as a sheet , red all around his eyes, eyes were rolling back into his head and he wasn't breathing.  i tried CPR (even though i was in such a panic that i don't even think i did it right) and nothing happened.  then i grabbed our bulb syringe and shoved it in his mouth and ended up sucking out a HUGE amount of mucus and drool.  he started coughing and then crying.  as you can imagine, this was probably the scariest thing i have ever had to deal with.  but i'm so glad that he's still here with me and that God has continued to bless me with my son's life.

*Finn is doing great now and the pediatrician put him on prevacid to keep the reflux more under control.  it has worked wonders so far!

happy things.

happy 31st birthday to my husband (better late than never, right?)!!!

this pic is from the vacation we took last year to celebrate his 30th, and I love it so much because it was the first time in a while that we had been able to go somewhere without a kid attached to us.  we were able to just chill, go out without having to load up a diaper bag, and wake up whenever we felt like it in the morning.  i really believe that vacation did a lot for us as a couple and helped spruce things up a bit!  i'm a little sad we weren't able to do something like that this year, but hopefully another husband/wife vacation is in our near future.

anyway, we didn't get to do anything special today because David had to work.  we did get cuddle up on the couch and watch  a movie tonight after the kids went to sleep.  it was especially nice after not seeing eachother much in this past week.  oh, and i also made him some pepperoni and onion pizza and a caesar salad for dinner!  it was sooooo good.  i think we'll do a bit more celebrating on monday and tuesday when he has off from work.  there just wasn't enough time today to do anything fun.

hope you're all busy enjoying your weekend!

good things. bad things.

good things.

i really enjoyed seeing my friend Jess today!  we only got to spend 4 hours together, but 4 hours is way better than none.  she and her husband were in the state for a conference and because we hadn't seen one another in 3 years, there was no way we could be so close and not get together somehow!  Jess was probably my best friend in college.  she and i met and a friendship sparked almost immediately.  it quickly became the kind of friendship where people would be shocked if we weren't seen together (a very rare occurrence).   needless to say, we lost touch over the years and us living in totally different parts of the country didn't help, as we are both terrible with keeping in touch with people in general.  today, seeing her, it didn't seem like a day had gone by since our days in the dorms.  i feel so blessed to have a friend like her and hope that i can do a better job as a friend in the years to come.

bad things.

i'm totally feeling like it's friday night right now.  Dave had his first day in his new job today and i'm not used to him working on saturday (especially from 9am-8pm).  the hardest part was not having him come home on his lunch break (thank goodness Jess was here).  i know that's something i'm really going to be missing now that his store is a half hour away versus 3 minutes away.   

i'm also feeling really stressed about this stay-at-home mommy business now because Averie acts out so much lately and it gets really frustrating.  so much so that i find myself running to my room and closing myself in there sometimes just so i can breath and focus on keeping my cool. 

i was talking on the phone earlier with my good friend, Brittney about being stay-at-home moms and we both totally agree that this is one of the most mentally and emotionally draining jobs any person can do.  there are so many amazing things about it,  but it's not easy by any means.  i just have to keep reminding myself that things will get better, and Averie will become more obedient if i just keep my cool and stay firm and loving.  it HAS to get better, right?

happy sunday everyone!  hope you all enjoy the last day of your weekend.  Dave has tomorrow and monday off of work, so this is day one of our weekend.  So there's another good thing.  :)

just one of those things about my life.

i slept horribly last night due to some major anxiety.  i know that dave's job promotion is a great thing overall for us, but i can't help but be stressed and nervous about the changes in his work schedule and the amount of hours he will be away from me.  i might sound like a crazy, over-reliant person, but i don't really have any friends where we live and it gets lonely for me a lot.  i love staying home with my kids and wouldn't trade the time i have with them for anything, but that doesn't mean it's easy for me.  the friends that i do have all live so far away and i basically survive socially through the phone and facebook.  i've been told (more like lectured) numerous amounts of times (by way too many people) that i need to join a mommy group.  i can't really explain why i haven't, but something holds me back.  i don't particularly like where we live and do not see myself here for the rest of my life.  maybe that's it.  maybe i don't want any attachments here because i want to get out so bad?  hm.

sorry to start this post off in such a depressing fashion, especially after not blogging for the past 2 days.  i'm sure you all feel like hearing about my issues.

a couple things.

first off, i just wanted to brag a little bit on my husband.  he just received a big promotion today and we're both so excited!  i am so proud of him for working so hard for me and the kids.  i feel so much of the time that there's no way i deserve everything that he does for us, but i love him so much for it.  he's been promoted 3 times in a 3 year span.  it's really unbelievable that he's come so far!

secondly, i want to let you guys know that cat from anthrosdottir is having a fun giveaway! 

So go check out her blog to find out how you can enter to win.  in the past few weeks, reading her blog has become part of my everyday online activities.  her reviews are amazing and she puts a lot of time into each post.  so... check her out, okay?  okay.  :)

ruffly things. shiny things.

good evening everybody!  i've been trying to sit down and write this post all day, but my kids weren't allowing me to do so.  first, my daughter (averie) got out of her bed like 6594  times (slight exaggeration) while she was supposed to be taking a nap this afternoon.  then she was trying to be really smart and comes running out of her room yelling, "pee pee on bed!  pee pee on bed!"  So I'm like, "forget it kid... you're not tricking me into letting you out of your room.  get back in there and take your nap".  that's when a tantrum began, so i had to pick her up off the floor and carry her back (of course she did that thing where she  makes her whole body go limp, so she felt like she weighed like 50 pounds).  well guess what?  i get her in her room (flailing and screaming of course) and she starts yelling at me, "pee pee on bed!  see!"  I look down, and what do i see?  yes, a big wet spot right in the middle of her pillow!

so i dealt with that and then of course, my boy (finn) was sleeping, but the second averie falls asleep, he woke up and didn't go back to sleep until about 9pm.  in between all that, i was doing laundry, making lunches, spending time with my husband and making dinner.  i just got done watching The Bachelorette, and everyone is FINALLY sleeping so here i am :)

i also wanted to show some of my favorite pieces of jewelry.   each piece is very special to me.

it's a little banged up now because i've worn it a lot.  but this is one of the last pieces i made while i was doing my apprenticeship.  this ring was SO hard to make, just in the fact that there was no room for error as far as keeping every aspect of it perfectly symetrical.

my impala bracelet.  i made this too!  i love wearing this piece - it's so art deco, and i always get compliments.  this one, too, could use a really good polish.  haha!

and this is my favorite of them all.  my gold/silversmith master made this one.  it's my engagement ring.  the stone in the center is a true mandarin garnet.  it's a VERY rare stone and can only be found in 2 mines in the entire world.  i wear it everyday and love it more and more as the years go by :)

OH!  one more thing.  dave has a job interview at 9am tomorrow morning and we're hoping this will be the promotion we've been waiting for.  he's been on 2 interviews in the past 2 months, only to come in 2nd place both times, so we're hoping the 3rd interview is a charm!  i'll let you all know what happens.  this promotion would be HUGE for us.  we've been struggling a bit lately and could use a bit of a financial boost.

well, that's all for the day.  i hope you all are getting off to a good start this week.  goodnight!

survivor things.

i can't believe i'm actually feeling really good today.  i couldn't fall asleep last night for the life of me and ended up nodding off at about 3am, only to be awakened 1.5 hours later by my baby boy who was hungry.  after i fed him, i attempted to try to get a bit more sleep, only to be awakend by him again 2 hours later.  i've got to be running on pure adrenaline right now.  there's absolutely no other explanation as to how i'm even functioning! 

on another note, my husband and i watched the season finale of Survivor last night (yes, we're big dorks, i know).  i'm a little annoyed at how these players were so experienced and yet they all based their votes on emotion.  if they based it on the motto "outwit outplay outlast", i believe the person who deserved to win would have.  it's a game!  not a populatirty contest, for goodness sakes!  ugh.  anyway... sorry for that, but i had to get it out.

things yummy. things pretty.

good morning everyone!  can you believe i'm actually following through with this blogging business?  i'm actually surprising myself right now because i haven't had any sort of hobby for a long time and i'm thinking that i've just started one!  this is all very exciting for me.  after the birth of my daughter 2 1/2 years ago, i kind of lost the desire to do things for myself.  i made everything about her and my personal life always came last on the list of priorities.  but here i am, 3 months after the birth of my son, putting myself first for a small portion of the day and it feels darn good!

anyway, people always tell me that they love me for my random ramblings and such, so i'll start you off with a little fact about myself that really isn't all that interesting, but hey... it's my blog and i'll write about whatever i want!

so chai is pretty much the only tea i drink and it's really strange because i compare it to the taste of pumpkin pie (which i hate).  but i love this stuff for some reason.  i had a big ol' mug if it last night while waiting for my baby boy to wake up for his last feeding of the night, and man was it scrumptious.  and it had just the right amount of caffeine in it to keep me from dozing off after an exhausting day.

yum.

okay, onto the next thing...

i'm not really sure how i want to do this yet, but i've been thinking that i want to start some sort of periodical dress up posts.  being a stay at home mom doesn't really allow for too many days of dressing up and looking pretty.  but, i really feel it's important for me to take some time every so often to do my makeup and get prettied up in a cute outfit.  i feel this helps me keep my identity and not feel 100% like a human burp cloth.  so readers, here's my first shot at this.  i'm hoping i can do this at least once every couple of weeks, and hopefully i can inspire other mommies out there to try this for themselves!

well, that's all for now.  hope you all have a great day!