Happy Birthday to me??!!

I've always liked celebrating birthdays whether its mine, Garrett's, or other family members. It brings people together often for a good day of laughter and fun. This year I turned 27. My birthday was on a Friday and I had taken the week off from work to finish up all grad school homework. We laid in bed for a long time and Garrett pretended to stay asleep so he wouldn't lead on to the surprise he left me in the house! I went into the hall to turn the heat up and when I opened the bedroom door there were BALLOONS, STREAMERS, SIGNS, PARTY HATS, and CANDY waiting for me all over the house! What a fun surprise! It was so nice spending the day with Garrett. We laid low at home, watched some movies and ran a few errands. Garrett went off to work at 2 and I was home alone until my mom came over later that evening.

I am definitely my mother's daughter. We goofed off all night and she even came up with the silly idea to move all the decorations into different places around the house, all balloons were in the bathtub, the door streamers we put on his side of the bed! it was also mom's ides to hide from Garrett when he got home from work! Ha ha. What I didn't know was that my sneaky mother and husband had planned a family birthday surprise Saturday afternoon. HERE'S TO A GREAT YEAR BEING 27!

Chicken N Dumpling

Making a tight budget stretch is VERY hard, and I wish I could say that we were on the healthy bandwagon or the Paleo drive, but we aren't! Being married to a 22 year old bottom-less pit makes the grocery budget hard to maintain. Lucky for me he will eat anything, BUT olives and pickles. SO with a few left over ingredients in our pantry I came up with Chicken N Dumpling soup.

Now I wish I could tell you what I put into the soup and how much of what went into it, but I never measure and never know how its going to taste when its finished. I must admit it was delicious and I had a HAPPY husband!

100th Day of School

Having a 7 year old sister-in-law definitely has its FUN moments! These moments are especially fun when she attends school where I work! The first graders celebrate the 100th day of school with costumes, songs, and a parade around the school. Well, Emma isn't a first grader, but we had been planning a special project together for the 100th day of school.

One evening while I was watching Emma we decided to make a special shirt for the 100th day of school. We came up with a tally mark design and Emma chose all the colors and the order they went on the shirt. I finished the shirt and took it to school for Emma to wear. Her teacher had her stand in front of her class and discussed the 100 tally marks! Oh course Emma loved the attention. The first grade teachers loved the design and asked for the template for next school year. Here is the before and after...


                                                                         BEFORE

                                                                     

                                                                           AFTER