Father's Day

In honor of Father's Day this weekend, I thought I'd highlight the most important dads in my life.

I'd have to say it's these two.  My dad and my husband.

I have been blessed with a great dad who has showered me with love.  He has always taken care of his family and taken care of all those "manly" things for us girls.  Growing up, I always loved spending time with my dad at the airport.  He has his pilot's license and has had airplanes in the past.  I would go with him and "help" as he tinkered away.  Looking back, I was probably a little in the way or talking non-stop, but I loved spending that time with him.  Plus, it was pretty cool to get to go flying with my dad.

My dad likes to do pretty adventurous things and I guess you could call him a gear head (but a computer-programing techie by day) Other than flying, he has a motorcycle.

I like my mom pushing his head forward.  Safety first!

He also has driven a race car.

He's a great dad and I am lucky he's mine.  I look like him, more than my mom, especially in our baby pictures.

 He's also a great grandpa to Miss Blair.

Now on to my sweet husband who is celebrating his first Father's Day this year.

He's most happy outside in wide, open spaces.  His heart is at peace when he is taking in God's beauty of wilderness and wildlife

        

 He's the best dad and he's a pro at getting lots of giggles out of Miss Blair.  She lights up when daddy gets home and gives him lots of waves when he leaves.  I love him to the moon and back.  He's my best friend and he loves me just the way I am.  Seeing him become a dad has proven even more to me that he is an amazing man.  He works so hard to make a comfortable life for us and would do anything for "his girls".

I also had to include my sweet grandpa.  He's the only living grandparent between Matt and I, so we cherish having him with us.  Here he is with all his girls.  Bless his hear, he's surrounded.  He had 2 girls, my mom and my aunt.  They both had two girls, my sister, my two cousins, and I.  My cousin had a girl, my sister had a girl, and 9 days later, I had a girl.  We don't do boys in my family.

Here is my husband and his daddio too.  He's relishing in his new role of grandpa and is a perfect example of what a dad should be.

Baby Applesauce

This is almost comical it's so easy, but I still thought I'd share.

Baby Food Applesauce

1.  Peel and core some apples.  I use this Pampered Chef thing that my mom had.

2.  Put the apples in a little water and throw in some cinnamon.

3.  Pull them out once they're soft and throw in the Baby Bullet or food processor.

4.  Blend until smooth or a little lumpy if you want some texture.

5.  Freeze and enjoy.

Tasty Tuesday-Cheesy Chicken

Cheesy Chicken

Here's a simple recipe that a lot of you have probably made in some form, but it's great to have in your back pocket for those quick week day meals.  Plus, it only has 5 ingredients.

5 tablespoons butter, melted, divided

1 cup crushed cheese-flavored snack crackers

1/4 teaspoon pepper

4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves

1/2 cup sour cream

1.  Place 1 tablespoon of butter in an 11x7x2 inch dish. Set aside.

2.  Combine cracker crumbs and pepper.

3.  Crush them up.

4.  Dip chicken in remaining butter, then spread with sour cream.  Roll in the crumb mixture.

5.  Cook at 350 for about 30 minutes or until it's cooked through.

Weekend Recap

Saturday morning started bright and early with some weird noises outside our bedroom window.  I looked out and saw our old friend Mr. Fox had a stray cat cornered.

Terrible picture, but the blob on the left is the cat and the one on the right is the fox.  Don't worry, kitty slowly backed off and fox lost interest and went the other way.

Matt had some errands to run in the morning, so Blair and I had some cuddles.

Our weekend really kicked off when my sister and my niece Olivia came down from KC, MO to visit.  Olivia is 9 days older than Blair, so they are destined to be the best of friends!

Olivia came over to check out Blair's toys.

Then, the ladies took some naps and met up at Grandma's for dinner.  We had pizza on the patio, then had some great giggles swinging.  The girls also decided to explore the backyard and get good and dirty.  So, we had a double bath to finish the night.

Sunday, we went to church and then came home for a nap.  After nap time, we headed back to grandma's and played with Miss Olivia.

I surely love this little girl and love being her auntie.  I can't wait to see her and Blair grow up and bond through the years.

We came home for another nap (by all of us this time).  Then, I headed to the gym and came home and made a gourmet meal of PB&J.  

Random note, Blair's hair has gotten long enough to put a sweet little bow in.  Love it!

5 on Friday

Yay for Fridays!

I was pondering what 5 things to highlight for this week's Five on Friday and pretty much everything I could think of revolved around Miss Blair.  So, I decided to make this week all about Blair.

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Birthday Invites

I sent out Blair's first birthday invitations this week.  How in the world did that happen!?  She can't be almost 1 year old!  I am doing a Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star theme.  I ordered the digital file from a lady on Etsy.  She customized them for me and then I sent them off to be printed at our local Wal-Mart.  The file was $6.50 and they were $0.09 to print.  Plus, my Wal-Mart was so smart, they could tell they were invites, so they threw in some envelopes for me.  Holla!

I don't want to put the picture of the actual invites because it has some personal info on it, but here is the idea and we changed the colors up and all the information.

Here's a link to her shop on Etsy.

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Blankey

Blair love, love, loves her blankey.  My great aunt made it for her and it's become her comfort item.  She sleeps with it and if it is in the living room or on the floor, she will cuddle up to it and put her thumb in her mouth.  It's pretty darn cute.

Blankey is zebra fleece on one side, silky on the other with her name and an angel embroidered on it.  It also has all kinds of taggies around the edges.  Perfection.

-3-

The Notekins

We have BabyFirstTV and usually Blair will give it a few minutes of her attention, but The Notekins is by far her favorite.  She will hear the theme song and start clapping and smiling.  I think it's just the music that she likes, but it's great!

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Baby Bananas

I picked these up at Wal-Mart this morning.  Probably silly, because she can totally put away a full-sized banana or I can share with her, but I thought they were just too darn cute.

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Puppy

 Lately, Blair has really loved this toy.  She knows how to press the paws and does a cute little dance when it plays music.  She also gives it kisses.  Pretty sweet!  Buy it here.

Lazy Days of Summer

Summer break has started out amazing.  

Blair and I have visited the pool.

We have watched daddy play softball.

Why not stuff 2 of Sophie's legs in your mouth?  It kept her entertained!

We also went to the Joplin Outlaws game.  Matt's job sponsored the night and every one got free admission.

Blair with Grandpa

Matt played some musical chairs. 

Sweet Summertime

Blair has taken on to summer with flying colors.  She is sleeping in late, taking two hour naps, and has had to stay up past her bedtime and been just fine.  I'm devouring these sweet moments with her as she is growing up way too fast.  I love that sweet baby so much!

I have gotten her birthday invitations created and printed.  I'm working on some fun crafty decor for the party, too.  I've also caught up with printing pictures and putting them in an album (yes I still do that), and now on my list is to get her videos organized.  I do a DVD for every 3 months.  6-9 months is done, but I need to work on 9-12.  I love this time to get everything tied up and all my little projects done.  

Weekend Recap

I was terrible this weekend and didn't take ANY pictures.

Well, we took some with Blair's 11 month sticker, but nothing else.

When we are out, I always forget to get my phone out and snap some pics.

I will get better at that!

On Friday, we got out of school at 11:00, so a bunch of my girlfriends (who used to teach with my mom) and my mom all met up at Olive Garden for lunch.  It was delish and we were a lively crowd.  Teachers gone wild!

Blair passed out on the way home, so we had to take a long way home.  She's not good about transferring to her crib.

I got Teacher of the Month, so that equalled a free value basket at Culver's, so we had that for dinner.  

The rest of my Friday consisted of loving on Blair and playing at home.

Apparently, I like to write about food and can't remember anything else.

On Saturday, we slept in.  8:00 Glorious.

Matt had some mowing to do, so Blair and I went to Wal-Mart.  

I must have timed it perfectly because as soon as we got home, she was ready for her nap.  I was able to lay her down and unload all the goodies in peace.

It was "bring a friend for free day" at our tennis-pool-workout place, so I called up my Mother-in-Law. 

We loaded up after lunch and headed to the pool for a few hours.  Blair loves it and is content just to sit in the shallow end and watch.  They have a great 0 entry area that's great to sit it.  I'm learning that my shoulders are going to get burnt and the rest of me is not going to get tan sitting or holding the baby.  I'll have to have some mommy alone time at the pool too.

We came home and Blair napped.

We had BBQ Chicken Tacos for dinner.

Then, watched a movie with the hubs.

On Sunday, I made pancakes.

We went to late church at 11:15 and Grandma came to watch Blair because she was napping late. 

She wouldn't go down at her normal time.  I think we've got a new tooth coming in.  Good times.

So, we had a date at church.

Sunday night, Matt's parents threw an AMAZING party for their neighborhood.  They had tables up their long drive way and chairs in the cul-de-sac.  There were burgers and hot dogs and all the fixings.  It was so fun and so good!

She knows how to throw a party for sure!

It was a great weekend.  Despite taking pictures, I hope writing about it will let me go back and read about it and remember.