I want to go back!

Back to work and reality and I just want to go back to the beach....

Brilliant Idea!

Source: williams-sonoma.com via Charlie on Pinterest

So, I recently said that I really want an ice cream maker. My brother, a.k.a. Debbie Downer, said, "Really, Caryn...how many times are you actually going to make ice cream?" When I saw Ina Garten make salted caramel ice cream from scratch, that sold me. But then I saw a recipe for Nutella ice cream...oh my. So when I discovered this contraption on Pinterest today my heart stopped! I know, that's a little dramatic, but this really is a good idea. And it's on sale at Williams Sonoma right now. Hmmmm.....

My Days With Vivi

My days with Vivi will soon be coming to an end. I have to go back to work very soon....in fact, sooner than I anticipated. Grandma will come again to spend the day with Vivi every Monday and Frank will go back to working from home on Fridays. She has a great babysitter for the rest of the week, so I don't know why I am feeling so blue. She's well taken care of...it just won't be by me. I have that feeling in my stomach again like I did when I had to go back after my maternity leave. Ugh....will it ever end? I don't think so. I know it will all be okay. It was fine when I got in the groove of things last spring so I know I can do it again. I'm just going to miss our boring days playing on the floor, our weekly trip to Target, our TV friends Ina, Giada, and Genevieve..... One more week to enjoy being with her full time. I need to stop moping now!!!

So simple...so delicious

Source: glorioustreats.blogspot.com via Caryn on Pinterest

So...I just made these today. What a simple idea, but so delicious. Three ingredients....pretzels, Rolos, and pecan halves. That's it! You just put the Rolo on the pretzel (on a cookie sheet with parchment paper), bake for 4 minutes at 250 degrees, then smash the pecan on top when they come out. That's it! Oh...and you need to place cookie sheet in the freezer for just a couple of minutes when they're finished to set the chocolate, but I ate a few straight out of the oven. YUMMY! I'm going to put some in a mason jar with some ribbon and take to my good friend I'm seeing this weekend. What a quick, easy, delicious hostess gift!

8 Great Months

Look at me...I'm 8 months old! I now weigh 18 pounds and am quite the chunk. I can roll over, I just choose not to most of the time. Turns out I'm a little bit lazy...wonder where I get that from? ;) I've rolled over a number of times and mostly from my back to front, but I get so mad when I'm on my tummy. Unless, of course, you're distracting me with a cool new toy or a song. I LOVE looking at my reflection too. My favorite toys right now are my cups. I played with them for our entire trip to Florida. Then, when I got home and could play with any of my bazillion toys....you know what I played with? My cups! I'm still having 4 bottles a day, 2-3 meals, and 3 naps. I just can't give up my evening nap....a girl needs her sleep. Till next month!

XOXO-

Vivi Grace

Vivi....at the beach

We survived our first family vacation with the bambino and had a blast! We went to Captiva Island, Florida and it was just beautiful. Here are a few snaps of the Arnold's on the beach at sunset....more to come later when I actually have time to organize our million photos!

My Little Helper

So, naturally on the day I need to get the most done is the day Vivi decides to only take 45 minute naps. So this was my solution....pop her up on some pillows and pack around her. She was entertained for about 20 minutes with my gold bangle bracelets! She definitely likes to be right in the middle of the action. Now that she's in bed for the night I've got to get everything taken care of.

Off to the beach in the morning.....

Chopped

I pretty much spent the entire day in the kitchen yesterday chopping veggies. We're going on vacation in a couple of days so I like to play this game called, "What Can We Have For Dinner Only Using What's Left In The House?" We've actually eaten really well this week by playing this game. It's fun! Monday we had bar-b-que turkey sausage, sweet potato fries, salad, and corn. Tuesday we had turkey meatballs and spaghetti. Last night we went Mexican. I chopped up one onion, one red bell pepper, one jalapeno, two cloves of garlic and sauteed that in olive oil. I then added two cans of black beans and viola....black bean burritos! We put that concoction in a whole wheat tortilla, added cheese, tomatoes, green onions, salsa, and sour cream and it was delish! Tonight is left-over night and finishing up everything in the fridge. Tomorrow we'll grab something to go and we officially made it through the week! Does that mean I won the game? Of course!

I also made the Veeves a bunch of baby food. We only had orange foods left for her from my last round, so I figured I needed to add some color to her diet. The bottom picture is 49 two ounce servings of homemade baby food. That should last us quite awhile. Vivi will be dining on sweet peas, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, apples, pears, zucchini, carrots, and brown rice. At some point I need to venture on to meat. That will be my next baby food making adventure.

Photographer's Video - Vivi 6 months

Let's see if this works! Hope so. Vivi had her 6 month pictures taken by a local photographer I found on Groupon. While I was a little disappointed in some of the old school back drops (I was looking for a more modern vibe, but whatever, it was only $39), he did take some beautiful pictures of Vivi. Here's a video he included and let's cross our fingers that it works on the blog! Enjoy!

Toys Toys Toys

Thanks Drew and Brady for all of your old toys! What nice cousins I have! I think I'm set for a very long time! All Nanas, Grandmas, Grandpas, Papaws, Aunts, Uncles that are reading this....you don't need to buy me any toys for awhile. Thank goodness for baskets!

Sunny Days are here again...

Source: captiva-island.com via Caryn on Pinterest

So the Arnold family is venturing out and going on vacation in just a few days! I'm SO nervous about the actual day of travel with the bambina. I've learned that she's a pretty easy going baby and usually always just goes with the flow...but it's my anxiety that's killing me. I'm worrying about her ears on the plane, which stroller to take - the big one or the umbrella stroller, do I bring pre-made bottles or just the formula and make them on the plane, where/when will I change her diaper, will she nap, etc, etc, etc....

I just need to take a deep breath.....breath in....breath out....and know that we're going to have a fabulous time at the beach....life is good....stop stressing out.....

My New Addiction

Source: quaintoaks.blogspot.com via Caryn on Pinterest

If you haven't heard of pinterest.com, then you need to check it out. It's my new addiction. A friend introduced it to me about two weeks ago and I CAN....NOT....STOP.... It's bad. As soon as Vivi goes down for her morning nap, it's the first thing I check. I feel like this website was made for me. I can keep track of all of my online shenanigans...recipes, projects, design ideas....it even has classroom ideas. I just wish I knew about this site when I was planning my wedding. I made a real pinboard for my wedding stuff and took it around to my vendors to try to translate my vision. I got a few crazy looks....whatever. ;) I knew there were other people out there like me...thanks Pinterest!

Tootsies

What is it about baby's feet that are so stinkin' cute? I tell Vivi all the time that I'm going to eat her up and start with the toe-toes. Is that a weird thing to say to her?! :) She's just hanging around (literally) in her Johnny Jumper and I had to snap a few shots of those toe-toes. Please ignore the dirt on the floor.

Oopsie!

So, Vivi is now a mover and a shaker...sort of. She's a little bit of a late bloomer and has only rolled over twice. And...I'm not sure if the first one counts because she was so mad she was on her tummy that she didn't even realize that she did it. She hates tummy time, hence the slight delay in rolling. When the doctor said not to worry about it, that's exactly what I did. I've still got to deep clean these hardwood floors and get a new spit-up free area rug for my living room before Vivi starts crawling. However, this picture is what we're experiencing in our house on a daily basis now. Vivi has discovered how to move around in her crib and is having so much fun with it. I can't tell you how many times I've gone in there to straighten her out. Then I decided I need to just stop doing that. I don't want her to get used to having me come in there every couple of minutes...it's becoming a game for her....flashing me a huge grin when she's supposed to be napping. So what if she's taken a few crooked naps lately...she's fine.

I love....

-that I bought this house as a single teacher in her 20's without anyone's help.

-the huge hostas that we've split a bunch of times and they keep coming back bigger.

-the huge lavender bush in the backyard.

-this was our first house together as husband & wife and now it's Vivi's first house.

-the mantel over our fireplace that was built by my best friend's husband as a house-warming gift.

-my chocolate brown dining room.

-my red door.

-not 1, not 2, but 3 well-established Japanese maples in the yard!

-the old glass knob door handles...even if they occasionally fall off.

-the crown molding.

-the wood burning fireplace that has seen many fires and even kept us warm when the power was out.

-the built-in shelves on either side of the fireplace.

-the built-in art deco mirror above the fireplace that I used to think was weird.

-the wood floors.

-the memories!

The Never-Ending House Hunt

Source: threepotatofourshop.com via Caryn on Pinterest

So, if you don't already know, Frank and I have been house-hunting for about a year now. To be honest, it has been an extremely frustrating experience. We started last summer when I was about mid-way into my pregnancy. We thought if we found something great and worth moving for, we'd do it. However, school started and I started getting bigger and bigger and moving just seemed out of the question....plus the right house just never came along. Then I had the baby and was home for 3 months and started looking again when Vivi was about a month old. I discovered that looking at houses online is now a hobby of mine. I'm REALLY into houses and love picturing in my mind what I would do. The thought of buying something and putting my own spin on it really appeals to me. Frank would rather a move-in-ready house. We expanded our search from the trendy mid-town area of Tulsa to the burbs...Jenks in particular because we just couldn't find what we were looking for in our price range. We actually found a house, put in an offer, got it accepted, did all the mortgage paperwork, got the inspections, etc, etc, etc......then the deal fell through with the repair requests. We lost about $1000 in that deal and were very bitter for awhile. We realized that it probably happened for a reason, but it was still frustrating, to say the least!

So...we have still been looking but just can't find what we want. We're beginning to think God just wants us to stay put in our little house. The problem is I have seen what is out there. I've seen the bigger closets, the counter space, the 2 car garages....and I want it. I've been so negative about our house that I need to do a complete 180. I need to appreciate what we have. We can survive in a 1,100 square foot house. It's not horrible, in fact, before I started house-hunting, I LOVED my house. So, I decided I have to change my attitude. I'm going to make a list of all of the things I LOVE about my house and just think about those instead of what is bothering me. Stay tuned....

I've got to go now...meeting my realtor at 2:30 to look at another house. I know...it's an addiction. Maybe I need to go back to work. ;)

Weekend Breakfasts

We have excellent weekend breakfasts at our house! At least one day each weekend Frank puts on his chef hat and goes to town. I love that he's experimenting in the kitchen. When we first started dating I think all he could do in the kitchen was heat up leftovers. Now he's a grillin' machine and a breakfast champ. The picture on the bottom is what Frank made this weekend. That is a fried egg panini and potatoes with mushrooms, onions, and goat cheese. Yum! Now, the pancakes and bacon...that was all me. I want to share these two recipes with you because I've tried a ton of pancake recipes and this one is the best I've found. It's the recipe my brother uses. AND the bacon...oh my gosh...once you have this bacon, you can't have it any other way. Trust me!

Fanny Farmer Griddle Cakes

1 cup milk

1 egg

2 tbsp. melted butter

1/2 tsp. salt

2 tbsp. sugar

1 cup flour

2 tsp. baking powder

(I also add a splash of vanilla and ground up flax seeds if I have them!)

This makes about 12 small pancakes...enough for about 3 adults.

Best Ever Bacon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil. Put a large scoop of brown sugar on a plate. All you have to do is lightly coat your bacon on each side with brown sugar and place it on the cookie sheet. That's it! I set my timer for 15 minutes then watch it carefully from there on out because it goes from perfect to burnt in no time. The brown sugar creates a caramelized coating on the bacon that makes it to die for!

Let me know if you try these recipes and love them as much as I do!

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July everyone! Isn't my patriotic outfit so cute? Mommy likes it because it looks like a 1920's swimsuit! :)

XOXO-

Vivi Grace

For The Hubs...

Source: microkosmic.com via Nikki on Pinterest

This picture is dedicated to my husband.....if you know Frank then you know that this is too perfect for words.

I Want This....

Source: amberlaneliving.blogspot.com via Katie on Pinterest

This would be my dream pantry! Who knew I even had a dream pantry?!? Not me!

4th of July LOVE

I doctored up some rice crispy treats for my two favorite boys, Drew and Brady, for the 4th of July weekend. I just melted some chocolate chips, put that in a ziploc baggie and cut off the tip, then drizzled them all. I topped them off with some stars and stripes sprinkles...can't go wrong! It's amazing how the simple smell of melted butter and marshmellows makes your house smell fantastic. I think they were a hit!

Revamping the blog....stay tuned!

Source: designeriphone.tumblr.com via Hope on Pinterest

SOOOO....this quote fits me to a T! I'm currently revamping the bloggy-blog and spending (wasting) a lot of my precious baby's nap times on this instead of doing what I need to be doing around the house. Oh well. Stay tuned...some more changes are coming!