Just Call Me Aunt Ci Ci

There is nothing greater in the world than being a mommy and second to that is being an aunt.  

I never in a million years could have guessed the love and joy and my nephew and nieces bring to my life.

They all seriously melt my heart every time I see them.

I love spending time with them.  

I love that I get to see them grow up

And I especially love that they know they can always ALWAYS count on me.

This weekend I was overfilled with love and joy just by spending a few minutes having a dance party with them. 

Twirling these little princesses around my finger.  Spinning in circles and jumping up a down to our favorite song is just so much fun with them.

I want to treasure these moments just like I treasure the moments with Annie.

I know too soon they will end.... though I secretly hope dance parties never end because what fun would life be without a good ol' dance party.

Colt, Abbigayle, Olivia and RaeLynn- Aunt CiCi loves you all so very much!

Muah!

The Pioneer Woman Collection

Is anyone else out there obsessed with the Pioneer Woman?
Just me?
Y'all did you know her collection hit Walmart this morning and just about everything is sold out!!
I cannot believe it. Well I can.  But damn. I wanted some goodies and now I have to wait.
Until then I am just going to have to drool over all this deliciousness.
Shes pure genius and knows how to pull my love of kitchenware heart strings.
Hopefully I can get my hands on some of these items come September 14th.
Until then..... I'll stay in dreamland until these beauties are in my kitchen!!

Its like she designed these just to go in MY kitchen I tell ya!!

I mean the butterfly detail on this?  Its like she designed it just for me!!!

Again with the butterfly... I died again and went to kitchenware heaven!!

The old country charm details....the heavens opened up and angels are singing everywhere!

Dearest Hubby,
About that overtime you got this week......
I LOVE you!!

Happy (50th) Birthday Mom!

This year we celebrated my mom's 50th and my cousin Tina's 40th Birthday at our house with all of our closest family.

All 4 of her sisters and her brother showed up.
Sadly two were out of state and couldn't make it.
But nonetheless, we all had a great time.

 
Oldest to Youngest
Chuck, Lorinda, Beth, Kathy, Angela, Sandra

I tried to keep the decor and food simple and went with a Kate Spade- black, white and pink color scheme.
You know having a toddler ain't nobody got time for crazy amounts of cooking and decorating these days.

The day before I baked the cake and cupcakes and managed to even get the taco meat ready for the Nacho Bar.

I would say everything went off without a hitch.

Fun was had by all.

Happy 50th Mom!

Love you!

 Happy Birthday Cupcake Toppers: Hobby Lobby

Happy Birthday Banner: Hobby Lobby

Eat Me Cake Sign: Etsy

Pink Chandelier: Hobby Lobby

Black White Wrapping Paper: Hobby Lobby

Easy Lasagna

So I was asked to make my famous, not so famous lasagna by my mother in law this weekend for her birthday dinner.
I thought I would share with all of you my easy recipe.
Most of family doesn't like the traditional lasagna because of the ricotta cheese.  I would be one of them!  Ick!
However, I still love the meat and cheesy goodness that comes from the layered dinner.
I came up with this recipe years ago and it has been a hit since!

Ingredients:
1 pound of Hamburger
Ready Bake Lasagna Noodles
1 large Jar of Ragu Pasta Sauce (or your favorite jar of marina sauce)
6 cups of Mozzarella Cheese
Favorite seasonings

Directions:
Brown Hamburger meat in a large skillet, adding your favorite seasonings as desired. I add about 1 teaspoon of each of the following:
crushed red pepper, basil, oregano, onion powder, dried minced onion, black pepper, garlic powder,
(I find this adds a lot more flavor to your meat than if you don't add anything)
Once your meat is browned add in your can of sauce to your meat and bring to a boil-stirring occasionally so it doesn't stick.
Next, spray your casserole dish with some non stick cooking spray and then add a little bit of sauce to the bottom of the dish.
Layer your ready bake pasta to the bottom, usually 3 pieces will cover the bottom. Then add a layer of your meat sauce mixture.  Then top with about 2-3 cups of mozzarella cheese.
Repeat.

Once you have your two layers add remaining cheese and then I like to add a few dashes of Parmesan, and a few dashes of garlic powder and some more basil to the top.(see picture below)
Bake in oven uncovered for 30 minutes at 425 degrees.
Pull out and let sit about 10 to 15 minutes and then serve. should be bubbly and slightly brown on the top

This is seriously the easiest dish to make if you are trying to impress your family!!  Oh and there won't be any leftovers so you can double it up and make an extra batch to freeze!!

Enjoy!!

Weekend Wrap Up

Friday was spent running errands for a majority of the day and then spent snuggling up on the couch with a book I cannot put down.  Seriously, you need to go and get it now.

The summer I turned pretty trilogy

Saturday was a whirlwind of a busy day. 
We woke early to go to the zoo first thing in the morning before it got over 100 degrees.  It is seriously HOT right now!

 

 

Annie wasn't too amused this go round.  Aaron was pretty bummed about it too because it was his first trip to the zoo with her.  Hopefully in the next few months as she starts learning to recognize the animals the excitement will start to set in.

After the zoo my favorite mother in law took Annie for a couple hours so Aaron and I could catch a flick and have a few drinks.  If you live the Spring, Texas or surrounding area you need the check out the old Lowe's theatre.  The have completely redone the inside and now offer cool leather electric reclining seats.  Y'all they are awesome.  I'm pretty sure we wont go anywhere but there!  We saw Mission Impossible and it was pretty good.

Afterwards we grabbed a few drinks at our favorite Mexican Restaurant- Lupe Tortilla.  I just love spending time with this man. He seriously is my dream guy.

After that I got a random text from some friends that were in the area and we met up with them to play a few rounds at Top Golf.
Aaron and I hadn't tried it out yet, but it was seriously SO much fun. I am not a golfer y'all.  I was actually quite terrible, missing the ball at least 3 to 4 times before I actually hit it.  Overall though, 2 thumbs up and super fun double date!!

Sunday was spent snuggling my favorite girl for the morning and then I finally go my house back in order after vacation and exhaustion the weeks following.  Don't you just love a clean house?  It seriously makes me all sorts of happy.

We finished the evening off with a bang at my sisters house to eat some pizza and let the kids hang out. 
Oh, and Annie said he first full sentence. "I want out!!"  She repeated it nearly 3 times for even a more dramatic affect.  I had no idea we were getting to sentences. This girl sure knows how to surprise her momma.

Happy Monday Folks!!
Don't forget to Drink your plexus!!


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