Way Behind

So folks, yes it has been 2 months since I have blogged. I am a MAJOR slacker. I will not even try to recap the holidays or new year, but just to say that they were fabulous and it was so great to be with family! Jeff and I had a lot of great time together and were able to relax over the holidays. We also celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary on the 30th of December! I am so grateful for God's grace in my life to give me such a Godly man to lead me. He truly is one of a kind and I am thankful that he leads me to the things of God, as well as pursues the things of God himself.

As most of you know, my sister was married in November and she is now living across the street from me. What a blessing it has been to have her so close! We decided to have a birthday party for my mom last night, as her birthday is coming up this week! We divided up the cooking for the party and it was a success! It was so awesome to be able to share in the cooking responsibilities and also fun that we didn't have to go far! We had a yummy chicken recipe that my aunt recommended. You can find it here. My sister made some FABULOUS mashed potatoes. That girl knows how to do some taters! We also had The Lady's Green beans. Yes, the Lady, aka Paula Deen. This was not my first time making these and it will not be my last. They are the BEST green beans you have ever put in your mouth! The KEY to the recipe is frying the bacon and sautéing the onions in the bacon grease! Sounds really healthy, right? So here is the recipe:

Lady's Green Beans

8 slices bacon (I actually use bacon bits)

1/2 c. sugar

1/2 medium onion, diced

1/2 c. vinegar

2 (16 oz.) cans French style green beans (I've also used kitchen sliced)

Fry bacon, reserving drippings. In drippings, saute onions and add sugar and vinegar, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Drain beans and mix with liquid mixture. Place in 2 quart casserole. Crumble bacon and sprinkle on top of casserole. Cover and bake at 275 for 1.5 hours.

Just wanted to share a recipe with you all today and hopefully this will be the beginning of my entrance back into the blogging world!

Baby Shower For My Nephew

Last weekend I hosted a baby shower for my sister-in-law, Kara, who is currently pregnant with my first nephew. Ever since she told me she was pregnant, I have been thinking of ideas for showers. I finally settled on a bird theme! I love this time of year with all of the "new life" around. So let me give you a recap of the shower in pictures. They tell the story for the most part! Oh and by the way, I tried all new recipes for the shower and they were a hit! Most of them were Pioneer Woman'

The spread

Fruit Skewers

Egg shaped plates and cute little pails to hold the forks

Bird's nest cookies

Cute cupcakes decorated by my mom and sister

Love those initials

The "Parker" clothes line

Love this boy's name and initials

I made these little birds for the shower in various colors

Parker is fearfully and wonderfully made

The door decorations (ignore Aunt Amy and Uncle Jeff in the background!)

I made this rattle for the door and Kara took it home for Parker's hospital door decor

Yummy

Monkey Muffins

The food tags

Nanny and EK

EK is trying out Parker's new headrest

Cute little outfits for Parker

Parker is set with clothes for his arrival

Cute elephant for Parker's room

Cute little bucket for Parker

I love a baby gown, especially with a monogram

EK checking out her new BIG SISTER shirt

EK checking out Parker's little brother outfit

LOVE these two!

EK being silly with mommy!

Both of these grandmothers LOVE LOVE LOVE this girl and she LOVES them!

This is one sweet little family. I am so excited to see this family grow!

These girls are so special to me!

Hope you all have a fabulous weekend! Enjoy this great weather!

Niece or Nephew?

I have been preparing for weeks now for the arrival of this party! You know me, I LOVE a party! I love planning the food, planning the decorations, cooking, and putting it all together to make it happen! Tonight we found out whether we were having a niece or nephew in June of 2011. Josh, Pudge's brother, and wife Kara, decided to not find out what they were having at the BIG ultrasound. Instead, the ultrasonographer mailed whether it was a boy or girl to none other than, you guessed it, Sherri Pickett! Sherri baked a cake with her "special filling" and the filling revealed the news to us all. Those in attendance at the event included, Gram (Kara's mom), Big Daddy (Kara's dad), Honey (Pudge's mom), and Pop (Pudge's dad), Uncle Jeff (at least to EK),a nd of course me, Aunt Amy. Invitations were sent out about a week and a half ago and each person was asked to wear the color pink or blue according to what they thought the baby was...

Here are some of the decorations from the night

The entryway

Before we cut onto the cake, each person in attendance was asked to write in this book, their name, what their guess was, boy or girl, and why they guessed what they did. I thought this would be a fun memory for the baby one day to look back at.

Each person was also asked to guess a due date for baby number 2.

The mantle

The gifts for whomever guessed the correct color!

Front Door

The cake table without the cake

Chocolate dipped pretzels for everyone to take home!

We had a dinner which included balsalmic pork tenderloin, mashed taters, salad, and yeast rolls. After dinner everyone finished writing their guesses in the book so we could cut the cake and reveal pink or blue.

Kara's mom, Gram, writing in the book.

I love this pic!

Cutting into the cake.....
So excited, can't you tell!

I think Kara was shocked and Josh is still inspecting to "make sure" he is seeing the blue!
Love this one too!

Showing off the blue filling...
Since Pops was on the blue team, he got a prize.....looks like it's going to be a bit too small for him, guess he will have to give it to baby!

Here is what each of the gifts said!

What a great big sister EK will be! She REALLY enjoyed the cake!
Team pink

The winners,,,,,,Team Blue
The whole crew

The end of the book!

Our guesses........we will have to wait and see who is right!!