A few Christmas photos from our house to yours...

Here are a few snapshots of our little Christmas.  Vivi wore her cute sweater dress to Christmas Eve mass at Christ the King.  Then we had baked fontina, lobster bisque, and caesar salad at our house.  It was delicious and I can't believe I didn't take any food pictures!  That is so unlike me!  Vivi was very excited Christmas morning.  She got a pretend cell phone from her babysitter and she loves it.  Her little American  Girl Itty Bitty doll was a birthday gift last month, but she is so fascinated with it...especially the eyes that close.  She had an i-chat with her family in Tennessee.  Then we went to Grandma's house and she loved playing on her i-pad.  She's one tech-savy little girl.  By the way, she's wearing her jammies at Grandma's house because she had a blow out on the ten minute drive there and ruined her cute Christmas outfit.  Oh well...the best laid plans....

Vivi's New Nook

Here's a little project I've been working on this Christmas break.  You have to be creative when you live in a small house.   For only being in this world for one year, this baby sure has accumulated a lot of stuff and we have no where to put it all!  For my baby shower from my students last year, they filled up a wicker basket with tons of presents.  That wicker basket is now Vivi's toy chest.  The toy chest was practically filled with the various stuffed animals she's received.  When you take out the stuffed animals, there's actually room for her bazillion toys.  So, thanks again to Pinterest, I used a garden basket screwed onto the wall for her stuffies.  Vivi LOVES her stuffies too...she plays with them a lot and gives them hugs and kisses all the time.  If she didn't love them so much, I'd probably just stuff (no pun intended) them into a closet somewhere. :)  So this space was just a tiny corner in her room behind her crib.  I put her basket of stuffies where she can reach them, her toy chest, and a low hung bookshelf.  It's tiny but just big enough for Vivi and she LOVES it!  Mission accomplished!

Merry Christmas to all.....

And to all, a good night.  Stay tuned for Christmas pictures soon!  It was a great holiday!  XOXO.

Frank's Christmas Present

We had some family photos taken around Vivi's birthday and this is one of my favorites!  I had this made into a canvas and I'm giving it to Frank for Christmas.  Isn't it just the cutest thing?! :)

Ditch the Diaper Bag???

Source: target.com via Caryn on Pinterest

Source: target.com via Caryn on Pinterest

Source: bananarepublic.gap.com via Caryn on Pinterest

Source: coach.com via Caryn on Pinterest

I feel like I'm at a crossroads.  I LOVE my Petunia Pickle Bottom diaper bag.  It's been good to me.  It's extremely functional and I always get tons of compliments when I'm out and about.  I have to say, though, that I think I'm ready for just a normal shoulder bag.  For short trips I have found that I'm only taking my wristlet.  I have a big ziploc bag in each car with two diapers and a small case of wipes just in case.  Really, the only time I take the big bag now is when we're going somewhere for a long time and/or Vivi has to eat.  I now feel like I just need a bag big enough for one diaper/wipes, a sippy cup, a bag of snacks, and my phone/wallet or wristlet.  I started looking around.  These are some that I like.  They range from $17 to $358....quite a jump, but they're all cute.  We'll see what I end up with!

Feast of the Seven Fishes

Source: the-dogs-breakfast.com via Caryn on Pinterest

So I think we're having Christmas Eve dinner at our house this year.  It will only be five of us, and that includes Vivi, so we can all comfortably fit in our snug and cozy (i.e. - small) home.  It is Italian tradition to eat seven different fishes on Christmas Eve.  It is called La Viglia di Natale or the Feast of the Seven Fishes.  Italian families gather together for the Christmas vigil and fish is on the menu instead of meat.  My big Italian family does partake in this tradition.  I have a vivid image of my grandpa eating a sea urchin...ewe!  Now, I'm not planning on making seven fishes for just us, but I am going to prepare a seafood dinner.  I'm thinking a nice lobster bisque will be on the menu.  I'm currently researching some other yummy ideas.  If you have one, please let me know!

Money as a gift!

Look what I just did!  I'm pretty proud of myself right now.  What is the perfect gift for a college kid?  Why, money, of course!  This is what I did for Frank's nephew for Christmas.  We rolled up another bill and put it inside the box.  Brilliant! :)  Again, I found the idea on Pinterest. (Thanks again, Pinterest!)  I didn't follow the directions exactly, but it was close enough.  If you'd also like to do this, see the link below!

Folded Money Gift Box

A day in the life...

This is just a normal day for me....you know....reading my mail........working with my fridge letters.......doing laundry.  All in a days work!

The $100 Teacher's Lounge Remodel

Well, it's kind of finished.  It has been for awhile, I'm just waiting for someone to hang up the coat rack that I bought.  It hasn't happened yet, so I thought I'd go ahead and post some pictures.  I can post some more pictures when everything is complete, but for now this will have to do.  When all was said and done I spent a total of $103.99...not too bad, huh?  My biggest trick for staying on budget was Hobby Lobby.  Everything I bought was 50% off.  I didn't do much, I just added a little bit of a cozy touch.  Like I said before, the kitchen itself is really nice.  It has just become the junk room/dumping ground for everyone there.  I'm hoping that changes.  I've gotten some really good feedback and I'm not sure about other teams, but I know the third grade teachers have started eating lunch down there now.  So, that's a start!  I made a small gallery wall on the largest wall, a coffee bar, added a touch of red with the curtains and other things, and gave it a good cleaning.  It still really needs a coat of paint, but that's just a little too much work for me these days. :)  I hope you like it!

I'm ONE!

Look at me...I'm one year old!  I now weigh 21 pounds and 5 ounces!  Mommy's thankful that she doesn't have month by month stickers anymore, because I can't sit still long enough for her to take pictures like I used to when I was younger.  I take two naps a day still and three bottles.  My bottles are now just milk....no more formula for me!  I'm army crawling and scooting like a lobster everywhere, but I'm still not really crawling or walking yet.  But I'm talking like crazy!  I can say so many words now!  I also have 7 teeth and counting.  I love to play and I love books more than toys!  I can look at a book for a very long time by myself.  What a year!  It went by so fast!  Hope my second year is as good as my first!

Till next time!
XOXO-
Vivi Grace

Pecan Pie for my Southern Guy

There are certain things that my family on the east coast just doesn't partake in....for example - chicken fried steak, biscuits and gravy, and pecan pie to name a few.  Even though I pretty much grew up in Oklahoma, having a New Yorker for a mom kept me somewhat sheltered from some of the southern delicacies.  I only had these items if I was at a restaurant and ordered them!  In fact, I never even tried pecan pie until a couple of years ago.  It just never looked good to me.  I decided to make Frank a pecan pie one year for Thanksgiving to give him at least one of his "normal" Thanksgiving dishes.  I got the recipe from The Pioneer Woman and like everything she makes, it was amazing!  I made him another one this year and added some cut out leaves to decorate the top.  I got those as a wedding gift and only seem to remember I have them in the middle of the summer.  I actually saw them today and it was the right season, so viola!

If you'd like a delicious recipe for pecan pie, click below!

Pecan Pie Recipe

Happy Thanksgiving!  Tomorrow my baby turns one!  A lot to be thankful for, that's for sure!

It's a Party!

Let the festivities begin....

It's party day!  I'm so excited.  I've been awake since 5:30...argh!  I hate that, but oh well.  Just a part of me I guess.  I can't sleep when I'm excited.  These are the preparations I've done this morning.  We're going to have about 30 people here this afternoon for brats, s'mores, and cake!  I'll post party pics soon!  I can't believe my baby is almost 1...where did this year go?

My Thanksgiving Mantel

I hope this doesn't look too cheesy because I had a lot of fun doing it!  I'm really getting into planning Vivi's birthday party.  I LOVE the fall.  I had a fall wedding filled with pumpkins of all colors and candles and twigs galore.  (In fact, those twigs on the mantel are leftover from the wedding!) It never even occurred to me until recently that Vivi's birthday will always be in the fall, which means that I can decorate fallish forever!  This mantel was very easy to do.  I bought some really cute scrapbook paper for the THANKFUL letters.  Yes, I used the di-cut machine at school to do my letters...oops. :)  I bought a heart punch-out at Michael's for the leaves that Vivi and I collected today on our walk.  The rest is just burlap rope, little clothes pins, candles, etc.  I even used the cut out hearts from the leaves as mantel confetti...can't beat that.  Hope this inspires you to decorate for the fall instead of jump to Christmas like so many do!