Merry Christmas!

May your day be filled with fun and happiness.

Early Recipe Thursday and Blog Break

**I will be taking a week (and a half) long bloggy break. Enjoy your holiday season and I will return on January 5th!**

Muddy Buddies (WARNING: these are seriously addicting. Beware when making them, you may end up eating all 9 cups!!)
1 tsp. vanilla
1 ½ cups powdered sugar
½ cup peanut butter
1 cup chocolate chips
¼ cup margarine or butter
9 cups Chex cereal

Measure cereal into large bowl; set aside. Microwave chocolate chips, peanut butter and margarine in bowl uncovered on HIGH 1 minute stir. Microwave 30 seconds longer or until mixture is smooth. Stir in vanilla. Pour chocolate mixture over cereal and stir until evenly coated. Pour chocolate covered cereal into a large paper bag; add powdered sugar. Shake until well-coated. Store in refrigerator.

4 teeth!

Ok, I know you can't see them in this picture but Peyton has all 4 of her top front teeth poking through!! Poor baby, and I didn't even know she was teething! She is trying to get used to the feel of them and she keeps biting on her bottom lip, like she's making a "f" sound (as in fudge) and she's done it so much she's starting to get a little sore, or callus, there. I still can't imagine what she'll look like when they're all in, but I can't wait! Looks like she is getting more than just her 2 front teeth for Christmas!

My Little Artist

Peyton has discovered her inner artist. Chris bought a large piece of shower board to use as a white board for his YM planning meeting. We still have it and so I thought I would see what Peyton would do if I gave her the markers and the ok to scribble. Turns out she loved it! I still can't tell if she is going to be right or left handed, if you look at these first two pictures, she kept switching the marker into different hands.

Right hand....Left hand....Peyton's masterpiece!I kept telling her not to touch the tops of the markers...She was so sad I made her stop coloring because it was bedtime.

Happy Birthday Christopher!

My one and only love has been alive for 25 years today!! I am so grateful to his parents for the way that they raised such an extraordinary man for me to fall in love with, be married to for time and all eternity and have a family with (thanks mom and dad!).

25 years YOUNG babe! Happy Birthday! I love you with all my heart.

Recipe Thursday

Three Cheese Chicken Penne Pasta Bake
1 ½ cups penne pasta, uncooked
1 pkg. (9 oz.) fresh spinach leaves
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
1 tsp. dried basil leaves
1 jar (14 ½ oz.) spaghetti sauce
1 can (14 ½ oz.) diced tomatoes, drained
2 oz. Neufchatel cheese, cubed
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
2 tbsp. grated parmesan cheese

Heat oven to 375◦. Cook pasta adding spinach to boiling water for last 1 minute. Cook and stir chicken and basil in large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat 3 minutes. Add sauce and tomatoes; bring to boil. Simmer 3 minutes or until chicken is done. Stir in Neufchatel cheese. Drain pasta mixture; return to pan. Stir in chicken mixture and ½ cup mozzarella. Spoon into 3-qt. baking dish. Bake 20 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining cheeses. Bake 3 minutes.

Modbe Inventory Sale

Dear Modbe Customers.
This is a letter to inform you that I will no longer be selling Modbe. You can still order from my website through the end of January, but after that you will have to find another consultant. I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you.
On the bright side, it means I am having a clearance sale! I need to get rid of all the inventory I have, so please see below for the available shirts and sizes. I have also included a sizing chart at the bottom to help you better estimate your size. If you live nearby, I would be happy to hand-deliver any items you would want. If you live out of state, I will ship it as cheaply as possible. I will be accepting only cash and check for these items. Please send me your orders quickly as it is first come first serve. If you have any questions, please contact me.
Thank you again for all of your support! Happy shopping!

Available inventory: $10 each
The following items are not in their bags, but were simply on display and have never been worn:
Size XS – red capseleeve
navy camisole
Size S – black camisole
Size M – white wide strap tank
Size L – brown capsleeve
Size XL – blue-grey little dipper
Size 1 – white camisole
Size 2 – gen-teal capsleeve

Available inventory: $10 each
The following items are still in their bags and have never been worn:
Size M – Just Black v-neck jersey
Plum Gorgeous v-neck jersey
Size L – Just Black v-neck jersey
Plum Gorgeous v-neck jersey
Well Red v-neck jersey
Sand Dollar v-neck jersey
Size XL – Sand dollar v-neck jersey
Just Black v-neck jersey
Size 1 – Just Black v-neck jersey
Well Red v-neck jersey
Size 2 – Just Black v-neck jersey
Dark Brown camisole

Available inventory: $8 each
The following items are Kidbe items that are not in bags, but were on display and never worn:
Size S – White camisole
Red capsleeve
Size M – Navy v-neck
Size XL – Sand capsleeve

Clearance items: $5 each plus tax and shipping
The following items are items that I can still order from Modbe at a $5 + shipping + tax:
Skirts:
Size M – Milk Chocolate Straight A Skirt
Beige Straight A Skirt
Plum Swing Skirt

Size L – Black Straight A Skirt
Milk Chocolate Straight A Skirt
Plum Swing Skirt
Size XL - Milk Chocolate Straight A Skirt
Plum Swing Skirt
Black Swing Skirt
Size 1 – Dark Chocolate Straight A Skirt
Size 2 – Black Swing Skirt

Tops:
Size 1 - Black ¾-sleeve
Beige kimono wrap
Brown little dipper
Purple little dipper
Size 2 – Black ¾-sleeve
Beige kimono wrap
Cranberry tied with a bow

Spaghetti

Peyton's new favorite food is spaghetti!

13 months!

Peyton turned 13 months yesterday! This was the 1-year picture we had been waiting for from the portrait studio.

Cute, huh? As you can tell, she likes to put things in her mouth.

At 13 months, Peyton is:

-Giving hi-five's and fist bumps

-Crawling like a champ

-Pulling herself up to standing on anything she can, and sometimes only hanging on with 1 hand

-She does ball. more, and milk in sign language and waves

-She loves to sing and loves to be sung to

-The best baby in the world!!

She's a thinker

As Winnie the Pooh would say, "Think, think, think..."

Recipe Thursday

French Onion-Pork Chop Skillet
6 boneless pork chops, ½-inch thick
2 onions, thinly sliced
2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 pkg. (6 oz.) stuffing mix for chicken
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Heat large nonstick skillet sprayed with cooking spray on medium-high heat. Add chops and onions; cook 10 minutes or until done, turning chops and stirring onions after 5 minutes. Remove chops. Cook and stir onions 5 minutes or until golden brown. Stir in Worcestershire sauce. Return chops to skillet; top with onion mixture. Mix stuffing mix and 1 ½ cups hot water; spoon around edge of skillet. Top with cheese; cover. Cook 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Works-For-Me-Wednesday: Mom's Plan-It Calendar

I got this planner from Staples and I absolutely love it. It has lots of space to write down appointments, a to-do list, a removeable grocery list and menu planner for each week and stickers! (And who doesn't love stickers??)

It helps to keep me organized and I just love that it's small enough to carry with me everywhere!! (And it's cute to boot!) I couldn'ty find it on staples.com, so here are the pictures of my personal calendar:

Being organized works for me! Check out Rocks in my Dryer for more tips!

Here fishy, fishy, fishy...

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

Snowflakes on the ceiling.

This is a little fiber optic tree I got for our bedroom because I figured it needed a little holiday too!

I decorated my wreath to go with my theme this year (my hubby thought I bought a whole new wreath!)

My table centerpiece

I went with a blue/silver/white color scheme and snowflakes, so it made it somewhat of a winter theme. I don't think the pictures even do it justice because I think it looks much more amazing!

Inside Joke

If you saw the Twilight movie, this should make you laugh. If not...well have fun guessing!

Recipe Thursday *Updated with pictures*

Rocky Road Fudge
1 package (12 oz.) semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup butterscotch chips
1 cup crunchy peanut butter
1 tbsp. margarine or butter
1 package (10.5 oz.) miniature marshmallows

Grease 9x9 metal baking pan; line with plastic wrap. In 4-qt. saucepan, combine chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, peanut butter and margarine. Cook over medium heat 2-3 minutes or until melted, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.
Stir marshmallows into fudge mixture. Pour into lined pan; spread evenly. Cover pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate 3 hours or until firm.
Invert fudge onto cutting board; remove plastic wrap. Turn fudge top side up. Cut into 36 pieces.

My awesome Chriustmas fudge tree I made!

Pound It

Thanksgiving Weekend

My family came down from Utah on Wednesday, and of course just had to have in-n-out almost immediately.

For myself and my mom, several hours on Thanksgiving day were spent in the kitchen. Let's just say, not my favorite holiday when I am the one doing a lot of the cooking and clean-up! Thanks for your help, mom! We had breakfast with some family friends and then had a wonderful Thanksgiving meal all spread out on the living room floor (we only have a table for 4 people). We went and saw Madagascar 2 later that evening and just hung around at home.

Black Friday we went shopping of course! But we didn't wake up super early, just went once we were all ready. It was lots of fun because it's my favorite thing to do! We all had lunch at Islands to celebrate birthdays for the next couple months. Then we headed over to some old family friends of my mom's to visit and go out to dinner. By then, Peyton was super tired (oh, and she was sick this whole time as well) so we headed back home while my family stayed to visit awhile longer.

Saturday called for MORE shopping, and the boys went and saw Quantum of Solace. The rest of the day was spent doing laundry and hanging out before my family left to get a head start and drive halfway home.

Sunday was a stay-at-home day for Peyton and myself, as she was still coughing and I didn't want to infect everyone at church. She was so good this whole weekend even though she was sick, there was only 1 night she didn't sleep through the night. What a trooper!

Naked Nater

Peyton decided to go a bit au naturel for awhile the other day...

Twilight the Movie

My review: 5 out of 5 stars, 2 thumbs up, etc.

Let me start of by saying that to those of you who watched the movie expecting it to be as good as the book, no wonder you were disappointed. Books are always much better than the movies, that's just a given. Especially this book. There is no way that the script writer could correctly show the complicated relationship between Edward and Bella in 2 short hours. Simply impossible. They could have made a 5 hour movie of it, but then no one would want to watch it (well, except for me).

The movie was good as a movie, not good as a movie made from a book. I went with only the expectation that it would be a great movie, not a great movie of the book and I was not disappointed. The comic relief was great, and I think the casting of the characters was phenomenal. It was so great, that all the characters were almost exactly how I had pictured them to be in my head.

With that said, there was also very cheesy/bad acting and the accuracy from the book was really lost on someone like me who is a HUGE fan of the book.

There was comedy, romance and action, as well as some gorgeous actors and actresses. I even loved the soundtrack! A little bit of something for everyone!

Count Your Blessings

I am grateful for (in no particular order):

-Being alive and healthy
-A wonderful husband
-A beautiful daughter
-Exceptional parents
-The best siblings ever
-The most awesome family of in-laws you could ever ask for
-Such great extended family
-Amazing friends
-Having more than enough food to eat, clothes to wear, etc.
-The gospel in my life
-Good books
-Volleyball
-Yummy food!!

Don't forget to think about the things that you are grateful for today. Happy Thanksgiving!

1-year and Family Pictures

I have to say, I was very afraid these weren't going to turn out very well. We had an appointment for 6pm and we didn't get the pictures taken until almost 7. I was really mad/irritated, and Peyton wasn't smiling very much (but you wouldn't be able to tell by the ones we got). There is a really cute one we got enlarged, it has 3 pictures of Peyton and she's holding the letters O N and E in each one, but it wasn't ready yet, so I'll have to take a picture of it and put it on here later.