Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful moms out there! Last night, my husband asked me two questions: 1. What do you want for breakfast? 2. What time would you like it served in bed? He is so sweet, thoughtful, caring and always tries his best to make each day special (most of the time). I replied with, "breakfast burritos and around 9". Haha... Well, that didn't happen... There were storms in our area all night, off and on. Kinsley started out the night with us at the first sound of thunder. Witten was already asleep, so he didn't join us until the 2nd or 3rd round at 6 am. Not to mention, our biggest dog of the house is absolutely terrified of storms. So, his 80 lb, furry self was next to my bed also. Early morning for us, but we had lots of laughs and cuddles, so it wasn't so bad being up at 6 am on a Sunday. :))) 

And there were 4 in the bed........ :)

And breakfast was served an hour earlier! :) It was delicious.  Thanks babe!

Being a mom was always what I wanted to be most! I couldn't wait to be a mom and I had always said, I wanted four kids. Well, I didn't quite have four, but I have two that I love more than life itself. They teach me things about myself and I am constantly learning from them. I do the best that I can to teach them, nurture them, love them and mold them into good, loving, people. I want them to be independent enough to make their own decisions, ambitious, and able to venture out and be productive once the time comes.  I love them with every beat of my heart. I give them all of me, every single day.  God graced me with a beautiful girl and a handsome boy! I love being a mom to both a girl and a boy.. it is so much fun. I LOVE girly girl stuff, but I also LOVE boy stuff. I think God knew what he was doing when he graced me with a boy and a girl! 

Waiting for Kinsley......

On February 15, 2011, this sweet, beautiful girl made me a mama for the first time. It was one of the very best days of my life. I already loved her so much, but I fell even more in love with her from the minute I heard her first cry, before I ever laid eyes on her.

 Kinsley Jade

Waiting for Witten......

On September 4, 2012, this sweet, precious boy made me a mama for a 2nd time. I was worried the whole time about being able to love him just as much as I loved Kinsley. I didn't think it was possible to love two the same way, but I did. I fell in love with this boy from the minute I laid eyes on him. I had so much love in my heart for both of my babies! This was one of the best days of my life also. 

Witten Matthew

These are the two, beautiful kiddos that God gave me, that made me a mama. I am blessed beyond measure for these two angels. 

My favorite girl! 

My favorite boy! He is such a mama's boy. <3

Let's not forget about my mom---She is the best mom! She's loving, caring, selfless, and always there for us. We are very fortunate and blessed to have a mom like ours! Not to mention, a wonderful Grandma that my kids adore! 

My Mom and Kinsley.

My Mom & Witten.

My wonderful mother in law. She's loving and kind, loves her sons more than anything else. She's also a pretty great Grandma &  Kinsley made her a Grandma for the first time. My kids love her so much too! 

Grandmama & Kinsley. 

Grandmama & Witten

Our very 1st family photo! Love this so much. I am so grateful that these are my people. 

There are so many great mothers in my life. My sisters, my sister in law, cousins, friends... I am lucky to be surrounded by so many great mothers!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Mother's Day! We celebrated Cindy (Beau's mom) last night and we will celebrate my mom tomorrow. Today, I will be enjoying my day with my family. 

XOXO

My Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies

We made homemade chocolate chip cookies yesterday, these are our very favorite. I am a high maintenance, diva when it comes to cookies....okay there, I said it. I do not like a crunchy cookie! Yuck! I like the edges to be a little (very little) crispy and the rest soft.  I thought I would share the recipe we use with you. 

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cup of flour

3/4 cup of white sugar

1 cup of light brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 stick of melted butter (slightly cooled)

1 1/2 cups of chocolate chips (milk chocolate) We don't use semi sweet in our house!

nuts (if you prefer) My husband loves pecans in his. 

Preheat your oven to 350. 

Next soften butter and set aside. 

In your mixer, combine your sugars and butter. Mix well. Then, add vanilla and eggs. Mix well. Be sure there are no lumps.

In a small bowl, combine flour, salt & baking soda. Stir together with a fork. 

Slowly, add your flour mixture to the other mixture. Mix until just combined. Stir in your chocolate chips and nuts (if you prefer).

Spray your cookie sheets (I use Pam). Bake at 350 for 11 minutes or just until done. I always take mine out a little early to prevent hard cookies! Cool on a rack. 

I never have a problem with taste testers in our house. 

I had some cute, little helpers. We always have so much fun in the kitchen. I love having my kids in the kitchen with me. 

They couldn't wait until they were ready!

Pure perfection. 

You could serve them the traditional way, warm with a glass of milk. You could also get a small scoop of ice cream and put it on cookie and another on top, you have a cookie/ice cream sandwich. Yum! A bowl of ice cream with cookies on top. There you have it, our favorite chocolate chip cookie. Enjoy!

Friday Favorites

It's Friday, I am linking up with Andrea, Erika and Narci to share some favs! I will admit... I didn't spend much time preparing for today's post. 

ONE

First and foremost, these earrings that Pinteresttoldmeto shared. They are $8, which you can't beat! I ordered coral and turquoise. LOVE them! Get you a pair or few!

TWO

The kids collection of YL oils! I love these because they are already diluted and you don't have to fuss with diluting them. :) I also like that they are available individually instead of just in the set. You can email me at christydyer10@gmail.com if you would like to order some oils. 

THREE

Nothing Bundt Cake! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE their white chocolate raspberry cake. It is delicious and so summery! Probably my all time favorite! I also love going into this little shop and looking at all the fun things they have. They always have a great selection of cutesy cake stands and candles. hahaha.... Is it strange that stuff makes me giddy? :)

FOUR

Teacher appreciation! As a teacher (I taught school for six years before I had my oldest), I really think it is nice to show appreciation for all the hard work, dedication and love teachers show to their students. I kind of dropped the ball this week and didn't do everything I had planned. I decided to get each one of their teachers (they have two each) a mini bundt cake from Nothing Bundt Cakes and a gift card to one of their favorite places. They think they really enjoyed them. I chose White Chocolate Raspberry for them too. So good, so summery and perfect for this time of year. 

FIVE

Okay, I saw this one the zoo website the other day and got super excited! My kids are going to LOVE this! I showed them the picture and they both can not wait to go. We are zoo members, but it will still cost us $4 to get into this section. I am assuming, it's going to be busy the first little bit that it's open. I am going to plan a trip during the week before the kids are out of school. That is one thing, I do not like about summer, all the places you can go during the week, that aren't busy are PACKED because school is out. I have a feeling this will be a favorite with my kiddos! 

I hope you enjoyed my Friday Favorites! I hope everyone has the best weekend! This weekend I will be busy packing and preparing for our anniversary trip to Chicago and to Colorado with the family! I can't wait! 

Key Lime Quick Bread

In my eyes, Fall and Spring are the seasons for quick bread. I absolutely love this Key Lime Bread during the Spring/Summer because it just screams summer time! You could have a slice of this for breakfast, dessert or snack. I think this bread is beautiful with the flecks of green from the zest. It adds a special detail for sure. I found this recipe on a blog that I follow. It is most definitely a keeper. 

Ingredients:

2 eggs

1 cup of sugar

3/4 cup of vegetable oil

1 of cup flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

4 key limes (If you can't find key limes, use 2 regular limes)

For the glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar

1-2 key limes

Preheat oven to 325.

Lightly spray one loaf pan with pam. Set aside. 

In a large mixing bowl, beat your eggs. Beat your sugar and oil in. Add zest (1 tbs) and lime juice (2 tbs). Set aside. 

In another mixing bowl, combine flour, salt and baking soda. Stir with a fork. 

Slowly beat your flour mixture into your key lime mixture. Beat just until both mixtures are combined. 

Pour batter into your loaf pan and bake 35-45 minutes. My oven usually bakes it in 35 minutes, but every oven is different. Keep an eye on it. When your bread is done, a toothpick will come out clean. 

Allow bread to cool for about 30 minutes inside the loaf pan before you remove it to continue cooling. 

To make glaze, squeeze lime juice (I used about 2 tbs) and about 1/2 tbs of zest to your powdered sugar. If your mixture is too thick add more juice or a little water. If it's too thin, add more powdered sugar. Drizzle glaze over the top of your bread and slice. Enjoy! 

Show & Tell Tuesday-Favorite Party Edition

Today is Show and Tell Tuesday, favorite party edition. I am linking up with Andrea to share a couple of my favorite parties! 

I have so many favorite parties, it's hard to narrow it down to just one. I am going to share two with you. First up, Witten's 2nd birthday. So much fun! We did "Things That Go" for the theme. 

The birthday boy himself.. I can't believe he is 2!

We had his birthday party at a church. It's has a super cool treehouse, playscape. It was perfect and we go to a room for the actual party. 

My husband made this train out of boxes. He did great!

We had such a fun time! I think the party turned out great! 

The next one would have to be Kinsley's 4th birthday. Although her 2nd one was a HUGE hit too. You can see that here.

 A lady that bakes cakes out of her home made this cake. She is awesome and the cakes always look super cute and taste good! 

The cookies were made at a little bakery off 7th street in Fort Worth, JRae's. They are the best cookies. 

The birthday girl--she loves ponies!

To See Other Parties:

Kinsley's 1st--Owl

Kinsley's 2nd--Gymboree Style

Kinsley's 4th--Pony Party

Witten's 1st---Dr Seuss

Witten's 2nd--Things That Go

I can't not wait to go read all about parties! I am in the process of planning my son's 3rd at the moment. I can't wait to see all the ideas!