The best part of waking up...

You all know by now that we're in the process of finishing our basement.  It's going to take a lot of time and since Benjamin isn't a stuffed animal that can just be propped up on the couch and left alone, one of us (that being me) will be left to entertain/play with/feed/bathe etc along with other daily household chores.  So it's going to be tough on both of us.  David will be tired from doing hard work in the basement and I'll be worn out from Benjamins never ending energy :) 
So being the nice guy he is, David said he had a surprise for me but he wanted my input first.  I LOVE surprises and wanted him to just do whatever it was that he was thinking about without bringing me into it because that kind of defeats the whole purpose of a surprise.
He told me that he wasn't going to go through with it unless he talked to me first b/c there were "just too many options"  I finally gave in and asked him to tell me what it was and I got the following email...

I was going to buy you a coffee maker. I figured the next few months will be really rough, especially on the weekends, so I thought I could do something nice for you, something to make Saturday and Sunday mornings a little better when you know that I’ll be working all day and you’ll be taking care of Benjamin.

How sweet is that?!?
I should probably point out that David absolutely despises coffee...seriously hates it.  I thought about putting a coffee maker on my Christmas list last year but decided against it partly because I know he can't stand it.  So the fact that he's not only willing to accept my new love for coffee but actually wanted to buy a coffee maker for me is just awesome.  It's true love at it's finest!
 
So here he is...my brand spankin new coffee maker :)

 
 






























I spent an entire week reading through reviews and talking to experienced coffee drinkers trying to decide what I wanted. I feel like such a grown up with my very first coffee maker :)

I LOVE Panini's

I am so excited about the sandwich I made tonight.  It was seriously delicious.  I'm talking restaurant quality good.  I found the recipe on Gina's Skinny Recipes blog.  Click HERE to check it out.

Chicken Panini with Arugula, Provolone and Chipotle Mayo

I think the kettle cooked chips were a perfect match with it.  SOOO Yummmy! :)  I highly recommend it.

And since I about screamed out load at Target earlier when I stumbled upon these, I figured I'd share in case you're just as crazy about a certain type of Easter Candy too

I mean c'mon...mini cadbury eggs?  Are you serious?!?  Now I can enjoy one without feeling completely guilty.  The trick will be just eating one and not the whole dang package.

Funfetti Chex Buddies

Holy Freaking Cow!!!
This stuff is Amazing!  I saw this earlier today on pinterest and it's the first thing I did after Benjamin went to bed tonight :)  I had to talk myself into putting the lid on the bowl otherwise I could have easily polished it off by myself in a couple of hours.
I will probably bring it into work tomorrow so that I don't embarrass myself and eat the whole thing by myself

Funfetti Chex Buddies
About 5 cups Rice Chex Mix
Either 10 oz of vanilla bark or just use white chocolate chips like I did (it's all I had on hand)
1 1/2 cup Funfetti cake mix
1/2 cup powdered sugar

I put about 1 tbsp of vegetable oil in with the chips so they'd melt easier. I've scorched white chocolate in the microwave before, the oil seems to help avoid that.  And I also only heat it for 20 seconds at a time, stirring in between.
After the chocolate is melted drizzle it over the chex in a big bowl, stir gently so that the cereal doesn't break.  Then add the cake mix and powdered sugar and Voila!  SOOOOOO Yummy!

Another Great Find

David found a new to us Antique store off Olive earlier this week.  And he found some pretty awesome stuff, one of which we brought home with us.

Say hello to the newest addition to our furniture collection.

 Right now she's made a home in our bedroom but I'm thinking it might work out for the next babies room and we can use it for the changing table/dresser.  I love the design of it and it's solid wood which is kind of hard to come by these days.  Intitially my first instinct was to paint it.  I was thinking it would look pretty cool in some sort of grey but the natural finish is starting to grow on me so now I'm not so sure.  David doesn't want to paint it so who knows what will happen.  For now she's giving us some much needed storage in our room which is great because the spare bedroom is about to bust at the seams.  We moved a lot of stuff from the basement into the spare room to clear up as much space downstairs as possible and it's almost impossible for me to get to my old dresser.  I'm now in the process of looking for "cute" contact paper to line the drawers.  I didn't think it'd be this hard to find attractive looking contact paper.  I don't want beige and I definitely don't want white with red cherries!  So if anyone knows where to find pretty contact paper...please let me know! :)

PS
If you're wondering about the random jeep on top of the dresser...that was another antique store find.  David is extremely proud of of it and will not let Benjamin play with it yet so it stays out of reach for now.  Apparently David had a jeep like that when he was younger so he has some kind of childhood attachment to it.  I would say he's crazy but I guess after my pillow person post I should probably keep my mouth shut :)

9 years ago...

It was 9 years ago today that David and I went on our first date.  I know that we have a wedding anniversary to celebrate now but I still feel like we should acknowledge this day.  In a time in our lives where it's easy to be distracted by the every day hustle and bustle, I think it's important to take some time and reflect on our time together over the years :) Here's to an amazing 9 years and many many more to come!

Here's the oldest picture I could find of us on the computer.  We went to FL in 2003.  So here's 20 year old Sarah and 24 year old David.  I still look the same-right? :)

Basement Update

The studs for a whole wall are now up. David and his Dad worked for a few hours Saturday and another couple of hours tonight.
Benjamin slept through the noisy saw, nail gun and air compressor on Saturday.  I hope it wasn't just a fluke because it will help tremendously if he can sleep through that every weekend :)

Let the Games Begin

I am SOOO happy that we've finally agreed on a floor plan for the basement and can move forward to finish the space downstairs. I have big ideas and can't wait to get started.  I know it's going to be tough, especially with a toddler on the loose. So we'll just have to be patient and work when we can.

The past couple of weekends have been spent going through boxes of junk that I didn't even know we had.  I kept asking myself why I moved this stuff from the house in Florissant almost 4 years ago to our new house.  Did I really need to hold on to those flip flops from 2002?  NO!  Or what about the pink fake hair clips I found.  When and more importantly why did I ever buy that?  We've made a ton of drop off trips to goodwill lately and it feels pretty good to get rid of stuff. Of course I held on to the my most treasured items like the sad pillow person that I've had since grade school.  Sure she doesn't have arms or legs anymore and there are some very questionable stains but I just can't let her go.  So she will stay in a rubber bin downstairs until the next round of purging takes place, maybe by then I'll finally be able to say good bye ( just maybe)
Here's what she looked like brand new

And here she is today.  RIP pillow girl!

David, Brian and Mike picked up the wood last night.  Hopefully we can do the last of the sorting/donating this weekend and can start the framing process.  So I guess it's safe to say we've officially started :)  Our basement smells like a full blown hardware store right now because of all that wood, which I hate but I guess I'll get used to it.

I'm excited to share the progress of this massive project.  Plus it's nice to have before and after pictures.  Just one more thing to add to my scrap book-right? :)

Happy Valentines Day

We don't really do much for Valentines Day.  Out of the last 9 Valentines Day's we've had together I can only remember going out to dinner once.  And this year is no different.  We stayed in tonight and filled up on yummy left over lasagna rolls from last night.  David did however bring home some tulips (one of my favs) in an adorable red galvanized tub. 

2012 Vday flowers

I made some festive pink and red treats.  Of course David won't touch the cookies or the pretzel bites so I'll probably end up making a quick batch of chocolate chip cookies tonight.  I wonder if David will be disappointed if Benjamin grows up to be a sugar cookie kinda guy instead of a choc. chip man. So far Benjamin will eat anything so I guess only time will tell :)

Last weekend Benjamin and I made another batch of play-dough.  And since we were only a few days away from Valentines Day we decided to make it red and pink :)

Anyway, I hope everyone was touched by cupids arrow in some sort of way today :)

Week 4 Menu Planning

I must admit, tonight I almost strayed from the plan and picked up Culvers for dinner.  It didn't help that David was going on and on about how good a hamburger sounded but I'm so happy I stayed strong and stuck with our menu.  It's hard living so close to Culvers...real hard.  Oh well, I guess it could be worse.  It could be a Chick Fil A instead and that my friends would be pure torture. 

I've had my eye on a lasagna roll recipe for a while now but just never got around to trying it.  It was pretty easy and David said he never wants to eat lasagna the "normal" way again :)

It's kind of hard to tell that they are individual rolls under all that sauce

Here's an individual roll

Benjamin thought the best way to eat it was to unroll it

But he seemed to really enjoy it :)

2nd Snow of the year :)

Yay!  I've been hoping for more snow and if FINALLY arrived today :)  After dinner tonight everyone bundled up and we headed over to Brian and Emma's for some fun in the snow. 

 Getting ready to leave

belly flop snow angel :)

Sledding it up!

Do you think we'll get another snow this year or was this it?  Either way I'll be happy.  I'm just excited Benjamin was able to use his adorable snow suit :)

Third Week Menu Planning and holding strong

Monday Night: Chicken and Broccoli Bowl

Tuesday Night: Meatloaf (and yes, those are heart shaped meatloaves!) 

 Wednesday Night: Sesame Pecan Chicken

 Thursday Night: Chipotle Chicken Meatball wraps

My fellow blogger friend Lauren suggested a menu board to go along with my menu planning.  It'll be a nice way to display the menu options for the week. Such a GREAT idea!  I feel another craft project coming on :)

Benjamin all Fired Up

After Dinner Benjamin was a bit on the wild side. I'm not sure if it was the cayenne pepper I used for seasoning in our meal or what but he was FIRED UP! I was trying so hard not to laugh at him because I didn't want to encourage his crazy behavior but seriously...I couldn't help it, the kid was cracking me up!



Also, is it just me or does Benjamin look like a Man Child in that highchair? I think it's about time we find a booster seat and let him eat at the kitchen table. Depending on what he's eating for lunch on the weekends I'll let him eat at his table but usually dinner involves a little more supervision so I think I should start looking for a booster :) Otherwise we'll see a lot more of this...





Benjamin is trying to pawn off his lunch to Maddie!

Crafty Fun Time

David's cousin Kevin and his wife Jessica had a gender reveal party last weekend. I was so excited for them and couldn't wait to find out if they were having a boy or a girl. The party was absolutely adorable (I wish I would have taken some pictures)
I couldn't resist picking up a few baby goodies in anticipation for the party. I decorated the gift bags with my cricut and realized I might never buy a patterned gift bag again. How cute are these?














I've been meaning to organize Benjamins baby keepsake items for a while now but up until last weekend things were sort of scattered throughout his room. In drawers, in the closet, in baskets etc. Now I have all the important items I want to save for him in a small plastic storage container. And of course I personalized that with my cricut too :)














Katie's Bday was Monday so I used her day as an excuse to finally make one of those yarn wreaths I keep seeing all over pinterest. I think it'll be pretty darn cute for spring, now I just need to make one for our front door!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATIE :)














It was a weekend full of crafts and I loved every minute of it!

Christmas Cards

Picture cards have pretty much taken over the Christmas scene. I love it. I love to see family pictures, pictures of couples, pictures of pets. I love displaying the cards, it helped put me in the Christmas spirit every time I saw them. The cards were one of the last things to come down and I just couldn't throw them away. So they sat in a stack on the buffet for the past few weeks. Until I stumbled across an idea on Pinterest.
I turned them into Christmas card book.















It was super easy. punched two holes in each card and put a ring through it. I plan to do it every year and create a year book of Christmas cards :)

Sandals, Coffee and Benjamin :)

This is probably going to be a pretty random post, just warning ya.

I have to share some adorable sandals I just found last weekend.
Mom and I walked around the mall just to hang out and spend some time together last weekend. I wasn't really looking for anything but when I saw these cuties I had to have them :)


















Picture from CharelotteRusse.com
I feel like they belong in a J.Crew Catalog. Not from Charelotte Russe at $17.50. I seriously can't wait to wear them! And with the way the weather has been lately I probably won't have to wait long.

Also, I'm probably a little behind on this but I just tried the peppermint mocha frappuccino from Starbucks this morning. And Holy Cow, it was Amazing!



















picture from Starbucks.com
A Grande size with non fat milk and no whipped cream is 4 points. Yes, I'm sort of back to tracking and counting points again. I mean c'mon. We're in February folks, that gives me what - about 4 to 5 months before swim suit season. Can we say SCARY!?!
So I'm back to watching what I eat and I started Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred. It's how I lost almost 30lbs before the wedding so I'm hoping I can stick with it again. Wish me luck!

And here's my new favorite picture of Benjamin right now.















See I told you, a pretty random post! :)