Vivi's 1st Gig

She's taking after her daddy.  This was Vivi's first gig for her friends.  She was a big hit!  If you'd like to book Vivi for your next private party, please call Cindy Post at Box Talent Agency.  You can pay her in crackers and grapes. ;)

10 and 11 months of V!

My slacker mom forgot to put my 10 month pictures up and now I'm already 11 months!  Let me just say my mommy thinks I'm the coolest baby ever.  I'm so much fun now!  I'm quite a chunk...over 20 pounds for sure.  I love to eat, as always....but now I want more real food and less baby food and bottles.  I'm only having 3 bottles a day, and I don't always finish them.  I want real food...I love crackers, cheese, yogurt, bread, pancakes/waffles, bananas, grapes, pears, oatmeal, chicken, cookies, you name it, I want it!  I am scooting but still not crawling, believe it or not.  I just want to stand all the time and have pulled myself up a few times.  I'm VERY opinionated and know what I want.  When I don't get it I've been known to have a few fits.  The kind where I get stiff as a board and cry.  The good thing is, I'm still very distractible in those situations. :)  Oh yeah, one of my favorite things in the world are books.  I love to read and can listen to 10 books at a time!  I'm talking like crazy.  These are the words my mommy and daddy think I'm saying:  cracker, outside, what's that?, mama, dada, dog, book, and hat.  Stay tuned...one more month and I'm a year old!  Time sure has flown!

Xoxo-
Vivi Grace

$2 Halloween Costume

Is that not the cutest little ghost you've ever seen?!  I know I'm biased, but come on now...she's pretty darn cute.  This entire Halloween costume cost me about $2.  Now, granted, I had a few of these items already.  I got the black tutu from my aunt and uncle before Vivi was born.  It came in a box with a bunch of rock start materials for little girls.  You can't tell so much from the picture, but her hair bow has a skull and crossbones and a sequined silver heart.  Rock on, Veeves!  This was also included in our box of rock star goodies along with some pink and black Vans and some rocker baby onesies.  We also already had the cute tights with the black Mary Jane's sewn in and the plain white onesie.  So, all I did was buy black patch material at Michael's, cut out the two eyes and the mouth and iron it on.  That's it!  We had our first Halloween party to go to today and we have another one tomorrow, so she'll get her money's worth of this year's costume. And...a little side note...
Any first time moms out there that plan on making this costume some day.  Here's a little hint...tutu's don't fit in car seats.  Trust me. ;)

Remember my $100 Project???

Remember my $100 project to fix up our teacher's lounge at school?  Well....here are two sneak peek pictures.  It's almost completed!  I should have it finished this week!  I'll post pictures as soon as I can!  Stay tuned...

Cooking fool...

Source: rachaelraymag.com via Caryn on Pinterest

And tonight, I made this.  Something about the fall has put me in the mood to cook.  It's an interesting task now that Vivi has pretty much given up her evening nap.  She helps me in the kitchen as she sits in her high chair and snacks on crackers....and throws them on the floor.  I do a lot of singing while I cook now. She seems to like it (the only one that does).  This is another recipe that my friend Amber has tried and loved.  She has excellent taste in all things, especially food.  This is a variation of a pot pie, but it has beef (but I used ground turkey instead), potatoes, cheddar, and a good dark beer.  Yum.  Perfect for the fall.  And... if I can make it while singing, picking up cheddar bunnies from the floor, and reading the recipe from my laptop on the counter, than surely you can to.  If you'd like the recipe, click below:
Beef Cheddar and Potato Pie

P.S.- I used pie crust instead of puff pastry...still delish.

Dinner Tonight

Source: eatingwelllivingthin.wordpress.com via Caryn on Pinterest

Have I told you how much I love Pinterest?  Well, I do.  This is a picture of dinner tonight.  It's called broccoli-quinoa casserole.  I found the recipe on my friend Amber's board on Pinterest.  She tried it and loved it.  Looks delish, huh?  It's in the oven now.  I added some rotisserie chicken to make it into a meal. If you'd like the recipe, click below:
Broccoli-Quinoa Casserole Recipe

Enjoy!

My $100 Project

At least for the past 5 years I have wanted to start my own little business doing what I love...room design, staging, rearranging, organizing, etc.  I have a degree in Education, not design, but if I had to go back to 18 again and make a decision on what I wanted to do with the rest of my life, I would definitely pick Interior Design.  Isn't it funny that you have to make such an important decision when you're really just a kid?  I had no idea Interior Design even existed back then.  I've looked into going back to school a number of times and I just can't seem to do it.  First of all, nothing is offered in Tulsa besides classes at community colleges.  I just feel like that would be a waste of money and time.  I would want to go somewhere more legit....like Parsons School of Design or something along those lines.  Probably not going to happen.  However, I don't think you need to have a degree in design to be good at it.  (Here's a little disclaimer.....I do like teaching, don't get me wrong.  And...I feel like I really know what I'm doing in a classroom and am giving my students a great education.  I am a good teacher, but my passion is design.)

Pictured above is our teacher's lounge in my school.  A few years ago some very generous parents donated a lot of money to do a complete kitchen remodel.  It looked great.  However, over the past few years it has become a dumping ground....old books, projectors, lamps, teaching materials that no one wants...etc.  There has never been anything on the walls.  The broom and dust pan is always out somewhere along with a few dead HUGE roaches (gross!).  There are usually dirty dishes in the sink.  There are heat stains on the table.  Missing chairs.  A bookshelf of random junk.  You get the point.  The bones are great....great cabinets, countertops, appliances, tile.  It just needs a little TLC.  No one eats there anymore and I know it's because the feeling in there is just blah and gross.  I truly believe if it looked better in there more teachers would gather together for lunch instead of eating alone in their classrooms.  I proposed my ideas to my principal and said I would just need $100.  She agreed and so my project begins.  It's really fun knowing that I can only spend $100.  It's a challenge, but I know I can do it.  Stay tuned for updates!  This has gotten my creative blood flowing again!