he's really walking

So I know I've been mentioning in posts about Jack starting to walk, but I can officially say that he is now preferring walking over crawling for the most part! It's so cute to see him walking around, I can't stand it! It only took 15-16 months, but he's got walking down! I'm so proud of him!

Oh - HAPPY 16 MONTH BIRTHDAY JACK!

vacation

I went on a mini-vacation with two of my best girlfriends from high school this past weekend so I totally got lost on the blog challenge and I really don't want to get caught up so I'm going to call it a fail and move on!

So Taryn, Julie and I set out for Branson Thursday afternoon! We stayed right on Table Rock Lake (which was nice, but we now know wasn't necessary), we shopped our hearts out, we hit up SDC (Silver Dollar City) and rode some rides, and Taryn and I went ziplining! I have to say ziplining was probably the high light of the trip for me! I had been wanting to do it forever! It was so fun - Taryn might disagree, she was nervous at first but by the end she was a pro!

We ate good food, we laughed, and we caught up! It was nice! Of course I missed Chris and Jack and was definitely ready to get home once Sunday rolled around, but I think it was a much deserved/needed vacation for this mommy!

a website

www.babylegs.com

There is a huge sale at Baby Legs right now! Spend $50 get 50% off! Can't beat that!

Just wanted to share!

a recipe

No Bake Cookies

(which is as close to baking as I get!)

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups white sugar

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup butter

4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter

3 cups quick-cooking oats

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, milk, butter, and cocoa. Bring to a boil and cook for 1.5 minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in peanut butter, oats, and vanilla. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto wax paper. Let cool until hardened.

Servings: 3 dozen

a hobby of mine

It's sad, but I truly don't think I have a hobby anymore - other than being a Mom I guess...I guess I could say shopping (totally lame!), or softball (I started playing again this past summer), or sewing (I have my own machine, but only use it when necessary), or working out (even though I dread it every time), or watching movies (but that makes me sound like a bad mom with tons of free time - so where is my child?), or FB stalking (again, lame!)...

Chris says my hobby is complaining (nice, huh?).

This topic makes me sad...I'm boring!

a talent of mine

Honesty - this is my talent! Some may say that's not a talent, but to me it is. I find many people in life tell you what you want to hear, while I will always tell you what I HONESTLY think! You can ask the majority of my friends and they will say that they will only ask me my opinion if they want the harsh truth! Ha!

Some may say that what I call honesty - is really just being "mean" or "negative", but I'm not going to lie to someone just to make them feel good. If your pants are too tight - I'll tell you, if your hair looks bad - I'll tell you, relationship advice - don't ask unless you want to know!

I will say, the times I find the most difficult to be honest though is with babies. But NOT all babies are cute - we all know it - so if I happen to come across a baby that isn't so cute, I will NEVER say "Oh she/he is so cute!" instead I've perfected the "Oh, his/her "outfit, head band, etc." is so cute! Ha! But that's what I do!

I think that being honest is a talent!

whatever tickles my fancy

The new Ipod Nano Touch! LOVE! It has a cute little clip so that you don't have to have an armband to run anymore and it has the "fitness" setting that will play music to the tempo you are running automatically! I need one ASAP!

a piece of art

"Trail of Tears" this is the only piece of art we have in our house (seriously) other than pictures of friends and family. I am in desperate need of a interior designer!

a song that makes me cry

this is easy - you know the SPCA commercials where they show all of the abused and neglected animals? well the song playing is "Angel" by Sarah McClachlan in the background and not only does the commercial get me everytime, but the song does too!

i think "Angel" is a common funeral song and it never fails to make me shed "A" tear!

fanfic

i'm sure you are asking yourself, what the heck is a fanfic? well i won't tell you because i don't have a clue! so what did i do? checked chelse's blog, duh! so i guess it's someone that blogs!? i'm sure there is more to it, but that's what i'm going with. i read quite a few blogs, but mainly it's friends blog's, friends of friends blog's, etc. however, i came across the family pictured above's blog and was immediately hooked on following their journey. i do not know them at all, but their story is amazing to say the least.

short story - their daughter, bella, was born with a genetic skin disorder that causes her skin to blister and peel whenever friction is applied (sometimes even touched). they are now on a journey through a stem cell transplant trial that will in hopes cure her disease, again it's a trial so they are one of the first families to endure the road to a cure! bella's dad, tim, blogs every single night as a recap to the day!

some might question why i would read this, it's so sad, depressing, etc., but really the entire story is inspirational to me. you too should check it out! "Care For Annbella"