Dear Notre Dame

As you play your first game of the season in IRELAND tomorrow.  I want you to know that I will not be a fare weather fan, I will stand by you always. & these things I promise you...

 

{I promise to}

 

;Yell at the top of my lungs at the screen as if I were at the game {so loud that at times it scares my kids}

 

;Proudly wear my blue & gold or Irish green. 

 

;Put my koozie to use, even if the game does start at 9 am {hey, its 5 o'clock somewhere!}

 

&

 

; Try to understand and like Brian Kelly {this is a big one for me and should 100% show my love for you}

 

 

GO IRISH!!!

 

 



My frist day...

About two weeks ago our sitter of almost 6 years told us that she would be filling out a job application to her kids elementry school, 7 days ago we found out that we had two days to finalize a new day care for our two children. 5 days ago my almost 6 year old started Kindergarden and my 2 1/2 year old had her first day at her new day care.

Is your head spinning, mine has been.  As a Mommy, my heart broke.  How was I going to find a new sitter/daycare in just a week?  My amazingly awesome friend, Leslie came through BIG TIME to find us a day care that seemed perfect and has great references.  Its more of a structured enviornment {which little Miss Kaylen needs} and it has a before and after school program for Keagan {and he gets to ride the bus to and from school!!...THIS IS A HUGE PLUS. he wanted that experience so bad and I wanted it for him even more}.  I had the hardest time the last few weeks finding the silver lining but I am starting to see the blessing in disguise. 


Life seems to be getting a little less complicated and I promise to get back to blogging!

Until the next post, enjoy a few photos of the kids FIRST DAY!

 Have a great week everyone!

Beauty Box Swap: REVEAL

I know the link up was yesterday but my life has been a mess the last week so I am trying to pick up those pieces before anything else.
 
So on to the one thing made my smile grow extra in the last week is this...

A month ago, I signed up for a Beauty Box Swap.  I filled out a Presh Little Form about the things I like when it comes to make up and the amazing host & co hosts picked a special someone to surprise me with a box filled with fun beauty products that I loved.  How awesome is that?

I picked up my box on Sunday {in the process of moving, my box was at my parents address temp.}  I finally was able to pick it up last night and let me tell you, it was so much fun to open something that was for me from someone that I have never actually met {I think that made it even more exciting}.

Kyna from http://greatexpectations-kyna.blogspot.com/ sent me my amazing box.  You should take the time to check out her blog-- you will not be disappointed!-- Thank you so much to Kyna for spoiling me BIG TIME!

Check out what wonderful goodies came in my Beauty Box;

I refuse to save the best for last when I am talking about beauty products, especially this one, this is the best lotion EVER!! & it smells heavenly, leaving your hands silky smooth!

Clearly I'm excited about the lotion {I am letting you all view me looking like a mess!}

Here are my other goodies:

I have got had the opportunity to indugle in this uber amazing box but you better believe that when I do, you'll hear of my favorite products!  I have to be honest and tell you that I am most excited to try the {Studio Gear Lipstick; WINTER RED} it looks like it will be the perfect color for a sexy red lip! OW OW!

Thank you again, Kyna!!

Queso Dip

Now, I want to point out that this recipe is actually called CHILI'S SKILLET QUESO DIP and I did find it on Pinterest {Surprised?}.  The reason I was hesitant to put that it's Chili's recipe in the Title is because, I in no way shape or form have ever tasted Chili's queso dip so I can't say if its just like it or not. I just like me some DIP! So enough yip yap, heres it is

Stir until all cheese is melted & then let simmer for 20 minutes

I don't know if its just like Chili's but it sure was good!

Ingredients:

16 ounces Velveeta cheese

1 (15 ounce) can Hormel No Beans Chili

1 cup milk

2 teaspoons chili powder

2 teaspoons paprika

1 tablespoon lime juice

1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

Directions

1. Cut the Velveeta into cubes
2. Combine the cheese with the remaining ingredients in a medium sauce pan over medium heat.
3. Stir until the cheese melts and all ingredients have been added. Reduce heat to low and let simmer for 20 minutes.
4. Serve with Tortilla Chips for dipping & an ice cold Summer Shandy is the perfect drink match!

ENJOY!!

How....WEIRD.

EVERYONE has something about them that someone would look at from the outside and go... "thats weird!".  I'm going to put a couple things out there that believe me, if I could help or stop... I would, for my sake more than others!

1. #2 pencils.  Mostly, i just can't stand the sound of the eraser on the paper and the friction it makes {instert goosbumps the entire time I am typing about this subject} YUCK.  For some strange reason, it is only the eraser on the #2 pencils that get me. Literally, If you start to erase with one, I will have to leave the room.  The sound is like nails on a chalkboard to me!

2. CHEWING.  I would say that in the last year, I have has this "thing" with chewing.  I first noticed it when my husband would eat tortilla chips.  It would drive me bonkers! No joke, I would reather listen to a cow chew its food than listen to my husband eat those stinking chips {he said he liked the crunch...I said STOP} Of course that was in a totally loving way. It actually wasn't until about 4 weeks ago that I realized that I was the problem. --WHHHAT?--  I was sitting at my desk and it was probably about 10:30 in the morning.  Two ladies were sitting in their cubicals eating chips, at the same time, louder than Sally Mae's adult cows.  At the risk of being dramatic {at that point, I didn't really care} I had to shut my door.  It was then that I got on Pinterest & found this....

HAHAHA!...now when my huband eats chips all I have to do is give him 'the look' and he says...."oh yeah, you have a disorder!!" :)

HAPPY WEEKEND

A Mother's Love: Dear, Keagan

Dear Keagan, 

When I was younger, I always knew that I wanted kids.  I dreamed of a daughter to dress and cover in pearls and a boy that could move a soccer ball just like his daddy. When we found out we were pregnant, I hoped that our first born would be a boy.  From the day that we found out that we had a little boy growing inside of mommy was the first day I remember your daddy being truly proud of you.  {I think its because he thought you were going to come out a little him because you were a boy...} Little did he know, you would come out with jet black hair and your big brown eyes, just like your mommy {which I think makes him love you that much more ;-)}.

There are so many moments that I can remember that have made me proud of you.  All of the normal, firsts, smile, laugh, wave, word, even the sound of your cry. And then there was your first parent day at preschool...

  All of the kids made a hand and a foot  mobile and the teacher wrote on the other side of each a hand and a foot what you would use each for.  Your teacher said that it was the first time in almost 30 years that a child refused to do his feet.  She said that you expalined to her that since you could only do one hand and one foot that you couldn't do a foot, you needed 2 HANDS to pick up and save animals. I think it was in that moment that I really realized that others would be able to feel your presence in this world, you have something about you that is different, YOU have something inside of you that is going to change this world and I fully believe you will do so by just following your heart.

Yesterday, you had your first soccer game.  Your passion and drive is fun to watch.  The things I will remember forever from your first game is not that your shoe came untied twice {which it did, double knoted or not} or that you helped a kid up after they had fallen to the ground during play{thats just what you do}, I will remember this...  I will remember the look on your face after scoring the last goal of the game, that smile with a thumbs up and then a 4 pump first pump at the end of the game.  It was a moment that not only were your Daddy and I proud of you but YOU were PROUD OF YOURSELF.  That is a moment that I will remember forever and my promise to you is to always  be your BIGGEST fan and you will always be MY SUNSHINE.

KARMA

what goes around, comes around...keep the circle positive, peaceful and loving.

I keep this on my desk as a daily reminder {it's much needed at work!!}

Recently, I have decided that I wanted to try to live my life surrounded by positive thoughts and energy.  I would start to look at the good in every situation even if from the outside and at first glance the situation seemed negative or really bad, I would dig and dig until I found a positive. 

{Example of a current situation}...

The other day, my husband had a day off of work, he decided that he would take the kids to my parents house and go swimming all day.  I said that I would meet him there after work.  Since we have 2 dogs, my parents have been keeping one {Mason Nickolas} and the other one {Brady Gene} ((cough cough, yep, they have middle names!)) has been continuing to live with us until we sell our house.  So...I decided that before I went over to my parents, I would quickly stop by home and pick Brady up so he could play with Mason for a bit while we all swam.  I went to put my purse in the car and somehow between putting the purse in and taking Brady to the passenger side to get him in the car, we were both locked out.  My purse, MY PHONE, my house keys, all in the LOCKED CAR.  Now, I didn't have much of a choice, I found a neighbor, called Matt and sat on the front step of the house patiently awaiting his arrival to "save" Me and Brady. 

Heres my point :)

As I sit on the step, I think to myself...what did I do today that Karma is paying me back for?  I must have done something wrong!  In the 20 minutes that I sat there, I honestly couldn't think of one thing.  It wasn't until we got home later that night that I was looking through my purse and realized that I didn't have my wallet with me.  It was like a lightbulb went off!! Karma wasn't paying me back in a negative way, Karma was protecting me...If I had driven without a license earlier, I probably would have gotten pulled over and fined for driving without a license! At least thats the way I CHOOSE to look at the situation.

There is definitely something powerful about being able to take a bad situation and look at it in a positive light!

CHALLENGE TO YOU

:  Take something negative today and turn it into a POSITIVE!!!!  &&& I would love to hear your story :)

xoxo,

Kristin