GIVEAWAY...Only 10 hours left!!

Hey readers!  I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! But now its time to get ready for....CHRISTMAS! Enter to win your choice of these fabulous Christmas cards by Bleu Print Shoppe. Designs of choice:

I'm linking up to Homemaker on a Dime, It's a Blog Party!, The Outlaw Mom, and Mommy Digger!

GOOD LUCK!!!

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What I Wore Wednesday! #1

Ok-this is my 1st time trying this out, I really like Lindsey over at The Pleated Poppy and a couple of friends have done this too.  So here goes:

This was for a vendor party one weekend, I was selling up my Scensty merch!

Jeans-Express

Blouse- Target

Necklace & Earrings-First Monday

Sandals-Steve Madden

 This was for our Cookie Exhange party.

Denim Dress-Old Navy

Leggings-Ellie's Boutique

Booties-Steve Madden (I think @ DSW)

Necklace-First Monday

Earrings-Groovy's

Close up of the booties

 We went out to dinner that night, had to change it up!

Sweater dress-Target

Leggings-Ellie's Boutique

Scarf-Old Navy

Ankle Booties-ShoeDazzle

Close up of the Ankle Booties.  See my cute pedi??

**FOLKS-I am currently having a fabulous GIVEAWAY!!!  Click to enter, you don't want to miss it!!!!!!!

Glazed Lemon Burst Cookies...YUM!

Just in time for Thanksgiving and Christmas, I am going to share with you a yummy recipe that I tried out last week. Zane and I were going to our 2nd Annual baby cookie exchange party, it's fun to get together with the mom's and see the babies play. I had every intention of making these cookies the night before, since the party was an hour away from where we live. But, then my hairstylist was able to get me in that night and I jumped on that! I was there for a while so by time I got home it was late and I was tired and ready to go to bed! I woke up extra early so I could attempt to be on-time to this event for once, ha! I mixed and baked the cookies while I got ready and got Zane up and fed him breakfast. Some where in the middle of all this Zane was "helping" me get ready by going though all my hair stuff and make-up and tearing up toilet paper. I had gone to finish up the cookies and when I went to go put on my mascara, my eyelash curler had disappeared! I knew who the culprit of this disappearance was, my 18 month old, of course (oh my, he is so silly)! Let me tell you, I turned this house up-side-down!!!!! I searched his favorite hiding spots atleast 3 times each, looking in the magazine rack, shoes we had left out, the trash cans, the toilet, etc. This went on for about 45 minutes and I started breaking out in a sweat so I decided to give up and on my way I'd stop and buy a cheapy eyelash curler because I knew it'd turn up later, plus I had to stop at Target anyway! I got us all loaded up and headed to Target, found a cheap eyelash curler that looked nice enough to get the job done. When I got back in the car, I attempted to finish my face. Word to the wise-don't buy a cheapy eyelash curler, they hurt like crazy. It's like they aren't curved enough and poke you. I was just about to give up, and probably should have until I remembered my SIL's instagram pic from that morning. She had woken up late and put her makeup on at work, and luckily for me, her office was on my way! (So sue me, I wanted to look pretty!) I stopped by, borrowed the curler and gave her a cookie in "thanks"! She approved of the cookies, which was a relief since I had never tried these out before! But let me tell you, folks, these melt in your mouth!!!! Now, you all have waited long enough for what y'all came to read-the recipe! Here ya go:

Iced Lemon Cookies:

What you'll need for the cookies-

-1 box of Lemon cake mix

-2 eggs

-1/3 cup of vegetable oil

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Next, mix together all ingredients

Next, grab a small amount of the dough and roll into a ball. Then, place on a greased cookie sheet.

Once you have filled the sheet with the dough, grab a glass, or anything with a flat surface to flatten.

Pop them in the oven for 6-7 minutes! While you wait for them to cook, start mixing up the icing glaze. You will need:

-1 cup powdered sugar

-1 tsp vegetable oil

-1 tsp lemon juice

Mix together all your ingredients. Then put it in the fridge and pull out your cookies and let them cool on a wire cookie rack. The cookies have to be completely cool when you glaze them.

Once your cookies have completely cooled, grab yourself a spoon to drizzle the glaze on. You can put a little or alot!

All the kiddos loved them! For those times you just want a burst of lemon, these are great!! The recipe is actually really easy!! Zane loved them and my SIL said they tasted like Starbuck's lemon loaf. That's a winner in my book!!!

*BTW-I still haven't found the eyelash curler and since bought another one! It's a mystery!! 

Linking up with My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

**Don't forget to enter my fabulous GIVEAWAY!!

http://mommy-inthe-making.blogspot.com/2012/11/time-for-giveaway-you-dont-want-to-miss.html



Time for a GIVEAWAY-You don't want to miss this!!!

It's that time!!! Time for a GIVEAWAY!!!! If you have been following my blog, you know what a huge fan I am of Bleu Print Shoppe! Amy has created several prints for me for parties, decor, banners etc! If you need a design, guaranteed she can create it! She makes custom t-shirts, stationery, anything for your party needs and the latest are these super cute personalized Christmas ornaments! I'm telling you, there is nothing this girl can't do!! These are all one of a kind, and she is super affordable! Here's some of favorites at Bleu:


My son's birthday invitation

Notice the faux burlap?



     

There are so many more adorable designs, so please, check her out!! HERE & HERE! (Be sure to follow Amy and myself!)

NOW-for the giveaway details!!! Just in time for Christmas, one lucky winner will get to choose from 1 of the follow AMAZING Christmas cards!! The winner will get to add their name and photo! Also their choice to have the customized digital print e-mailed to print at their choice of printing companies, OR have it printed and shipped to their address. SEE?? I told you, you did not want to miss this!! Here are the prints to choose from:

*Note- no changing of the original digital design.*

This chalkboard design is so adorable!!

OK-go, register to win and good luck!!!! Don't forget to follow the rules, only those will be considered!

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Must Have's

Now that Zane is almost 18 months, his list of favorites have evolved and grown. As mine have with caring for a toddler. Here are a few items in the Ward Household that we use daily and love!! Also, with Christmas coming up, if you know someone expecting or who has a little babe, these would make great gifts!!

First up, his "lovie" as we call it. Since he was a baby he loved the feeling of something soft on his cheek to cuddle and fall asleep. We LOVE these lovie's and he is highly attached!!!! He brings it to breakfast every morning too! These are made by Aden + Anais, issie security blankets, they are made of natural cotton muslin, edged in satin. They are super soft!! We get ours at Target.

Next up, his refrigerator magnet letters by Melissa & Doug. He has to play with these every morning after breakfast. They are wooden and I think better quality than the usual plastic ones. Melissa & Doug make neat toys!

Kids love Elmo, I don't know what it is about him but they just do!! And now you can Facetime with Elmo! Zane loves it!!! He gets a daily voicemail and you can schedule a phone call(s). Elmo tells him how much he loves Zane and his favorite letter of the day. You can also buy more conversations, with topics like "Going to the Dr", "Clean up Time", "Bedtime Story" and many more! It's genius!!!

Zane had a cold last week, and apparently babies get up to 10 a year with their underdeveloped immune systems. We bought this humidifier last year, the brand is Crane and was purchased at Babies R Us. It's a cold mist, so if he touches it the steam won't burn him.



My trusty purse diaper bag!! At first I had this ultra trendy diaper bag that looked like a purse, then of course, it got baby food and other gunk on it (it WILL happen) and I realized I couldn't wash that diaper bag!! Plus, it started falling apart. Vera Bradley is all the rage right now and they came out with diaper bags, YES! But my favorite feature, it's washable!!!! And comes with a soft, matching changing pad. 

And for our fave item...the video baby monitor!! It's called the Summer BabyTouch Color Video Monitor, it was expensive! This puppy does it all folks! It's in color and has night-vision, it's a touch-screen, we can view and scan the whole room, zoom in and out, adjust the brightness of the screen, also we can actually talk to him from our room with our monitor!! What will they think of next??

There ya have it, our favorite products at the moment! **Don't forget my GIVEAWAY is coming up!!! Don't miss out!!!!!!

Toddler On The Loose...Jack!!

Those of you who have or have had toddlers running amongst you will be able to relate with me here! When your spouse is at work and it's you vs. your toddler, you may feel some days that your toddler wins, alot! This always happens to me when I am busy doing chores around the house or trying to cook.  A door gets left open and Zane will no doubt get in it! About a month ago, I went into our lonely, quiet little spare bedroom, inside this room is a cute little vase that sits on the ground next to the armoire. I had gone in there in search of Zane's pants and I had already searched the house top to bottom. I just happened to look in the large vase to find his pants as well as a snack-trap. I called off the search-party and cleaned out my fancy vase, I know this is crazy of me to have "fancy" things in the home with a toddler loose! Well a few weeks ago I went back into the spare bedroom, I don't know why exactly, maybe I was cleaning (HA!), but I felt the need to look inside the vase again, this time I found handfuls of dog food and a half-eaten sucker stuck to the inside. Let me assure you, I do not give my son suckers, this is what happens when daddy is in charge of a teething toddler. The dog food-this is easy, Zane feels the need to help the dogs eat! He will take Nova's (our German Shepherd) food out of his bowl and take it to Starrla (our little Yorkie) and put it in her bowl. I trained Nova years ago when he was a baby, not to get possessive of his food. I would set my hand on top of his bowl and make him eat around my hand, and occasionally pull him away from his bowl mid-eating. My point being, Nova is VERY good with Zane, always has been. So if you are wondering how a 100lb viscious German Shepherd works in our home, that's why!

--Back to the real issue at hand--

I once again cleaned out my fancy, schmancy vase and keep that door shut! I need to get a baby gate for that doorway, but folks, they are expensive!! The one I have for our bedroom was $60 (no I didn't register for them-stupid!!!!!!) But we like this one:

It auto-closes! Yep, we are lazy like that, get over it! I know one of us would forget to close it at some point and our iPhone's would end up in the toilet because my husband someone refuses to baby-proof that! I think he this certain person has reconsidered that, however, since I am extremely unlucky in the phone department!!

Speaking of the toilet, hehe, my hubby had gone to our linen closet where we keep the toilet paper (I know he'd love to know I put this on here, but he doesn't follow me, it's all good) and inside the bag he found more dog food and a Nilla Wafer. I really do not know when or how he got in this closet! It must have been when his daddy was in charge and mommy wasn't home :) See how I blame him? No really, this kid is sneaky, as most toddlers are! Moms KNOW when it's too quiet, it means baaaaad news! Nova will occasionally open our doors (I forgot to mention how smart German Shepherd's are) and he had opened the door to the garage, after a few moments of silence I knew where to look and there he was walking around in the dark, highly dangerous garage! I have no excuse here, I cannot recall what I was doing that I didn't have my eye constantly on him!

The sucker eaters! (Ok-so I was home!)

Sadly, I don't have any pictures of those who had been victimized by my sweet, sneaky Zane. But rest assured, there will be more to come!! But for now, here's some serious cuteness...

Window climbin' with food in his hair!

Sweet Angel, as my grandma says! With Hippity Hoppity (His stuffed rabbit the Easter Bunny brought him)

I truly hope he doesn't feel this way...he will understand when he's as proud a parent as I am!

                                       

OH! Before I forget, you guys got to come back soon because I am going to have an AMAZING giveaway from my favorite Etsy shop very soon that you will not want to miss out on!!! And just in time for Christmas!!

**BUT... while you wait for my FAB giveaway, head on over to my SIL's blog and enter to win her super cute giveaway item!! http://thecurvylife2011.blogspot.com/2012/11/some-hearts-have-more-room-than-others.html

OK, now it's Duck Dynasty time-JACK! So I have got to go!! And apparently download the "Sharp-Dressed Man" theme song since Zane stops and dances whenever he hears it. It's priceless!!



Margarita Grilled Chicken

This dish is one of our favorite's that you can get at Chili's, but I figured I could make it myself in the comfort of our own home. We are homebodies no doubt about it! The night I decided to make this, it was a Tuesday, and my husband goes to his shop to work on their 1967 Chevy Nova on Tuesdays and Thursdays. So this mommy was here all alone watching Zane and trying to cook a gourmet meal. It was pretty interesting, let me tell ya!

The ingredients you will need:

Margarita Mix
Chicken Breasts
Brown rice
Pico de Gallo (Yeah its store bought, please forgive me!)
Black Beans
Tortilla Strips

First things first, marinate your meat!! It suggests 2 hours, but really who cares, I did for an hour only!

I put my chicken in a bowl and poured the margarita mix on top, added some Kosher salt and black ground pepper and put it back in the fridge to marinate for one hour!

Meanwhile, Zane and I had some time on our hands! Trying to be super mom, since daddy was playing working on their toy. I went to start up the grill to burn off excess burn things on the rack. You read this right ladies and gents, I grill!!! Not only that, I thought I'd start a cute little fire in our fire pit so Zane could play outside while this handy momma got things done!!!

 It was time to take the meat out and get it cookin'! One thing I did before placing the chicken on the grill was I got some olive oil and brushed it on the racks of the grill, it prevented the chicken from sticking and tearing!

I set the rice on the stove to cook and then took out the chicken to cook! It looked really good and smelled heavenly on the grill!!!

This is where things got interesting!! The fire in the fire pit was getting a little low, so I did as my hubby always did and moved the logs around a little. It always seemed to get the flames going again. So I took the mesh metal cover off and set it aside and tended to my fire! It got to lookin' good and so I grabbed it (with my hand) BIG MISTAKE, I don't know what I was thinking, but then suddenly a curse word came flying out of my mouth and I dropped the fire hot metal cover! That's when I saw something even worse than my blistered fingers.....

 



This genius, turns out not-so-handy mommy put the fire hot metal cover on the patio furniture!!! Again, WHAT was I thinking????? My brain was obviously not present this night!! But I think I'll just flip it over and no one will ever know (except y'all!).

I had all my ingredients cooked and dinner was ready, my hubby came home and I confessed all my utter failings and he just shook his head and laughed! Typical John Allen response! I made our plates and it turned out pretty great!!



The chicken was super juicy and had a sweet savory flavor!!! It was delicious!! I put my rice on the plate, topped that with the black beans and then the chicken breast.  Next, I added the tortilla strips and pico de gallo.  My hubby said it was better than Chili's!! Score!!!

I hope you try this recipe and I hope it goes much smoother than my cooking experience! I figure from now on I will let John Allen handle the "man" stuff and I will stick to what I know!! Mother of the Year Award?? Hmmm, maybe next time!!!