Family.

I miss my family and my hometown SO bad. I never thought I would ever say that! I was born & raised in Montgomery, AL and by my Junior year of high school was SO ready to GET.OUT. And many other people my age and younger feel the same way. Well I have been out of Montgomery for 6 months...and all I want to do is GO HOME and see my family and wander around town and actually KNOW where I am going. I am learning my way around Fayetteville pretty easy, but there really is NO place like home.

SO, after saying that, I am SO thrilled to announce that my in-laws are coming into town!! All 5 of 'em!! :o) It's so nice to have time to miss someone before you see them again, ya know? and 6 months is waaay to long for me. I am very family oriented and I love being surrounded by people who I love and who love me! There is just no greater feeling in the world.

They will all arrive tomorrow evening-ish and Saturday we are planning to wake up fairly early and head to the beach for the day! We are only about an hour an a half from a beach so it should be LOTS of fun! This time, I am toting the pack 'n play with us to house the kids when they don't want to play in the sand. and LOTS of sunscreen. :o)

All this happiness in my world and just across the street my sweet neighbor & her husband went back home to be with her grandaddy. All I know is that he was not doing well. Yesterday I got the news that he passed and my heart just broke for them. I can not imagine losing a grandparent! Would you please pray for them? Pray for God's peace to cover them during this hard time. Pray that they will find happiness in the midst of such sorrow. I can't wait for them to get back so I can just embrace both of them and cover them in love myself. I am so glad they were able to go back home and be with their family.

I hope everyone has a blessed day..and just incase you didn't know, I started a baking blog! :o) www.thecupcakeswirl.blogspot.com CHECK.IT.OUT.

New Blog!

But don't worry! I am still keeping this one. My new blog is for my Baking Adventures and how I am self-teaching myself to decorate/bake beautiful cakes and cupcakes. Well I am actually being taught by my aunt who is MAGNIFICENT! But ever since we moved to NC it's more so me teaching myself and calling her when I have a question! haha But nonetheless, It's about baking and decorating and trial and error! I am SOO excited to be starting it up! So you should go check it out at

http://thecupcakeswirl.blogspot.com/

The Latest!

So ever since my Boiled Cookies post, I have been sick...(NOT due to the boiled cookies. lol just in case you were wondering!) I am feeling much better (Praise God!) and have taken a few pictures of my life around me! First I just want you to see Bubba's (Will) experience with the first time he ate peanut butter & jelly....ADORABLE! 

How can anyone resist this preciousness!!? :o) I just love him! We like to call him "fat boy" because he eats EVERYTHING!! I'm not looking forward to him being a teenager if he eats this much now!!

Now...I want to let everyone know that I am cutting back on coffee, and when I say "cutting back on coffee" I mean I haven't made/drank any in two weeks! (*GASP!*) "But Rachel, what are you drinking instead of that pure deliciousness?" you ask? ...well my friends...Let me tell you....

*TEA*

Yes, that's right! I have taken up tea drinking! It really is magnificent! I felt inspired to start drinking tea because I was watching a TV show the other day and they were talking about how AWESOME it is for your health! and well people...IT.IS.SO.AWESOME.FOR.YOUR.HEALTH! So...I looked up one of my fave bloggers who just so happens to enjoy tea very much- Mrs. Amber Apple- yes I have posted about how cute her blog is before. But she really loves tea and quite frankly...I didn't know where to begin with this new "lifestyle" so I hit up her blog as a resource. And well...I chose these at the grocery store for my first go at it...

ahhh....I am in LOVE! Definitely two GREAT choices! I drink the Twining's in the morning (instead of my usual cup o' joe with half and half and sugar in the raw. Now...I turn on the stove to boil my water in my tea pot and throw a tea bag in a fave coffee cup--or should I say "tea cup" now? Except it's not actually a tea cup...I like my big honkin' coffee cups!-- pour a couple of tablespoons teaspoons of Sugar in the Raw (I am a southern girl...I like my tea SWEET! hot or cold.) and enjoy. It definitely makes me feel better! And use the bathroom less...you know what I mean after you have that morning cup of coffee...

And now. this is what I woke up to this morning....

haha. Doesn't he look HAPPY?? Yeah...they got to roll around in mud early this morning when it was FREEZING outside! I felt so bad...he looked so pitiful when he walked in the door. I asked him if he had fun, thinking that boys LOVE that kind of stuff...He didn't. I had to wash his uniforms twice to get the grittiness off from the sand...Poor thing.

P.S. I am watching The Princess Diaries...I love this movie! :o)

The.End.

Boiled Cookies!!

I am so excited to be sharing this recipe with y'all! It's near and dear to my heart because my cousins and I, on my mom's side, grew up on boiled cookies almost on every rainy day we had in Alabama and that was often! These were a tradition in my house growing up and I am passing on the tradition to my children! These cookies are soo easy, which is another fabulous thing about them. You will probably find, after reading this post, that you are familiar with these cookies. People call them all kinds of different things...my family sticks with "boiled cookies"! So here ya go!!

Boiled Cookies

Ingredients: 

2 C Sugar

1/2 C Milk

4 TBSP Cocoa
1 stick butter or margarine (I stay away from margarine...but you can use either)
2 1/2 C Quick Cooking Oatmeal
1/2 C Nuts; optional
1/3 C Peanut Butter
2 tsp. Vanilla (use imitation, my mom and I have figured out that using pure vanilla doesn't work quite as well...you are welcome to experiment though! )

Directions:
Tips: It's a good idea to go ahead and lay out your wax paper, lay out a pretty big sheet this makes a bunch, and pre-measure everything before you get started because once the mixture begins to boil you wont have time to measure everything at that point before it begins to harden. Also go ahead and stir your mixture with the spoon you will drop them on wax paper with-just so you are not wasting 5 different kitchen spoons. :o)

1. Stir sugar, milk, cocoa & butter until mixed well and butter is melted on Medium heat in boiler. (My aunt melts her butter first and then adds the rest...I dump it in all at once.)

Before

It will be creamy like this. 

2. You must keep stirring before and during the boiling process so your milk does not scald. Once the mixture comes to a rolling boil, allow to boil for 2.5-3 more minutes.     

3. Remove from heat and add your oatmeal, peanut butter, nuts (optional) & vanilla. STIR FAST!! your mixture will begin to harden at this point. Drop by teaspoonfuls on wax paper and allow to harden before eating! 

Stirring the oatmeal in

I added pecans to my recipe this time! YUMMY! 

  

And here they are!! :o) ENJOY!!!

This is THE BEST part of making Boiled Cookies!

haha She was BEGGING for one right after I dropped them. She waited patiently.

I hope y'all try these on a rainy day. If you do, let me know! Would love to see pictures of you enjoying these! Enjoy!!! 

Mommy Peace

It rained today! I thought it was going to be a lot harder than it was but it was just on and off all day!  I was thankful for no thunderstorms...Although, our lights flickered a few times. (I hate when the power goes off in a storm...) We did not do anything special today...no boiled cookies like I usually do on rainy days...BUT I did make some tea (trying to get into drinking tea...So far it's YUMMY! I have been drinking Lipton Green Tea all day today. I have enjoyed it so far! :)

I love my kids! I love playing with them and making them laugh and watching them play together in a room by themselves. Nothing makes my heart happier than seeing that! But MAN...That time of day when they go down for the night is just SO...p.e.a.c.e.f.u.l. My dishes are all washed....My husband's PT clothes are washed and dried... & the living room is clean...I like to call this kind of peace "Mommy Peace". Mommy peace is different from regular peace you have when your not a parent. All day long you have these offspring, who are completely adorable (when they are not pitching a FIT over getting more JUICE!) who are running around your house, pulling out EVERY piece of clothing they own out of EVERY dresser drawer...bringing every stuffed animal they have  into the living room along with small plastic toys and cars right after you just cleaned...throwing cheerios all over the kitchen floor and all you want to do is go to the bathroom or take a shower...(later you find out that you, being a mommy now, have an allotted amount of time to do these things and it's usually during nap time.) "Mommy Peace" is that very second when the last child goes to bed and you shut her door and look around your house and it's so quiet and all you can do is just.breath. You make yourself a cup of tea...a diet coke...a margarita... and snuggle up on the couch and just relax...No one is asking you for juice or screaming for attention. You feel un-needed and sometimes....that just feels SO good! So here's to all my other mommies out there who's kids are sleeping soundly! CHEERS!

             

oh joy!

I finally made my curtains today! And I am so excited to share them with everyone! I did make them in one day...I KNOW! I am a CRAZY person. And yes, my children were fed today...lol It took about 2 hours and a little bit of frustration via the bobbin, but all in all I am very pleased with the outcome! I hope you like them too! When I saw the fabric for the ones in the living room I fell in love! I got the inspiration for the burlap from my hubby's aunt who made her own curtains. Similar to these just a little different, but she used burlap too and I have always gawked at them every time we were over at her house! So she encouraged me to make my own as well...so...I DID!!! :o) (Thank you Aunt Trina!!)

These are the curtains in my kitchen. I love it! I am, however, changing the ribbon to a thicker black one. I only had this red polka-dot ribbon at the moment so I added it for effect. 

Here is my living room! I am SOO happy with these! I fell in love with this fabric (from Jo-Ann's.all of it is from there actually...)I even had extra for a pillow! :o) 

It was pretty easy to make these curtains...I am pleased and it's just one step closer to our house looking more like a home! :o)

In other news...I also planted more flowers!!

P.S. Yes I sweep off our porch....I should've moved the broom sorry...:)

In the spirit of Lifetime's Army Wives season premiere...

I recently found a blog for Christian Military Wives and I am SO loving the encouragement from these ladies. I feel as a military wife it is CRUCIAL for me to stay encouraged especially by wives who actually understand what I (as a wife to a soldier) go through...Deployments (not yet, but soon), field training, knowing that my husband will be jumping out of an airplane today/tonight...etc. It can be draining worrying about your husband day after day when he leaves in the morning just to go to work. As an Army Wife I know that I play a very important role. I am the one left behind when my husband goes to the battlefield to take care of EVERYTHING...kids, dishes, cleaning, shopping, getting the oil changed in our cars, reaching for stuff on the top shelf, taking the trash out...It's the little things that I have taken for granted when he is home because he does most of these or at least helps me with them...except for maybe the cleaning part. :o) When I feel that my husband and I are about to engage in a knock-down drag-out "discussion" sometimes it takes all I have to sit back and think "I do not need to be wasting these moments with him by arguing..." It's a sad reality, but it's my reality.

I am SO proud of my husband and how far he has come since we got married! As cliche as it sounds..he really is my hero! I cry over silly country songs about soldiers that I never cried over before, I got chill bumps at his infantry graduation when the guys in his platoon yelled the infantryman's creed, and I was so excited for him the first time I saw him jump out of a C-130 and gently float back down to earth that I wanted to run back and forth in front of the bleachers, as the other spouses and family members watched their own loved ones, and scream to the top of my lungs, "THAT'S MY HUSBAND!!!!!!!" The pride & excitement you feel is so incredibly overwhelming!

I am proud to be the wife of an American Soldier!

Army Wife Creed

I am the wife of an American Soldier.
I am a supporter of the United States Army -
an encouragement for the protectors of the greatest nation on earth.
Because I am proud of my husband and the  uniform that he wears,
I will always act in ways creditable to him, the military service
and the nation he is sworn to gaurd.
I am proud of my husband. I will do all that I can to protect
and provide for my family in his absence. I will be loyal to my
husband and to the vows that we made as we entered the
covenant of marriage.
I will do my full part to carry on the values
and goals we have set apart for our family
and I will continue to instruct our children in the same manner.
As a soldier's wife, I realize that I play a vital role
in my husband's decision to become a member of a time-honored profession -
that I am doing my share to keep alive the principles of freedom
for which my country stands.
No matter what situation I am in, I will never do anything,
for pleasure, profit, or personal safety,
which will disgrace my husband, his uniform or our country.
I will use every means I have to encourage my husband to be
the best soldier that he can be.
I am proud of my husband, my country and its flag.
I will fly the flag and will always remember the sacrafices
made by my husband and by generations of men and women
that have served our beloved country.
I will try to make my husband proud of the
manner in which I accept his decision to defend my freedom and
the freedom of all American citizens -
for I am the wife of an American soldier.

Custom Mixers!

I was looking around for fun ideas for the kids on St. Patty's Day and somehow ran across a blog post where someone made Ree Drumond (The Pioneer Woman) a custom-made Kitchen-Aid Mixer! As curious as I am...I went to her page to see what all the fuss was about. Weeeell....Here it is! TOO cool! I am jealous of the ladies who won this pure baking gadget awesomeness! So I read the comments and one said,

Crystal F On Tuesday, February 22 at 7:03 pm

You can by them at:http://www.unamorecustomshoppe.com/categories/KitchenAid-Mixers/ In fact you can have one painted with your own design or one of theirs, using your own mixer or you can buy one of theirs.

Go click on that website! TOO AWESOME! Like she said, you can have your existing mixer custom painted...for $400!!!  Umm as cool as that is...I am not going to pay someone (MORE than I paid for the actual mixer) just to paint on a mixer I already have....SOO I wonder what kind of paint they are using? I will research and quite possibly paint my own mixer for the price of well, paint! Sounds like a plan to me!! :o)

Loverly Day.

Today was a fun day. I actually got out of the house with the kids! We just bought a new car LAND ROVER! so I finally can leave during the day while Chad is at work! ....and we went to TARGET! :o) We haven't been to this one since we moved to North Carolina and it was completely backwards from the one at home...well Alabama. (I have to keep reminding myself that NC is my home now...Alabama will ALWAYS be called home to me though.) Anywho, I had fun exploring. I have fun in Target anyways. It just has the coolest stuff and the cutest clothes for me and the kids. We didn't get much, but I did buy a new doormat for our house! ....Well I was going to show you a picture from the website, but I couldn't find it...BUT I found this one....and thought, "Why didn't they have this one? TOTALLY woulda gotten it!" (go ahead...click on it! You won't regret it.) SEE!? What'd I tell ya, huh? HILARIOUS, right? I know! :o) PLEASE buy this doormat and take a picture for me will ya? Would love to knock on someones door with this under my freshly pedicured toes! ;o) haha So silly. I love stuff like that.

Anyway...back to the stuff I got at wal-mart..err, Target (that tells you I go to WM too often...) I found a pink jacket on sale for $7.48! and a cute polka dot storage bin to sit on top of the dryer to put single socks in when I can't find the match as the clothes come outta the dryer...(smart, eh?) annnd some ROCKING turquoise sunshades! That's it. But we sure had FUN rummaging through their cool kitchen gadgets & wishing I had a new bed set with 25 matching throw pillows! :o)

Finally came home to make pizza for supper with Reagan while Chad was getting his gear together for tomorrows ruck march (or something...?) Chad goes to bed so early now because he has to get up so early so I am stuck hanging out (& watching Idol) by myself...Reagan went to sleep early tonight as well. I love having time to relax without someone crying and my husband (God love him) asking me where his multi-tool is....it feels nice to not feel needed for a little while and just be....

We had a fun day and now I am ready to go to sleep. OH! Army Wives premieres on Sunday!! IM STOKED!!!!! OH and BTW...I found this awesome blog and I am obsessed with her furniture.and her paintings.and her style.which I could NEVER pull off. CHECK HER OUT... Mrs. Amber Apple you won't regret it! promise. ;o)

Sweet Dreams! ;) -R

Sweet Success

I did it! I completed my very first cake. Although I had some errors It turned out pretty darn cute! I didn't beat myself up too hard about my fondant cracking or the fact that the cake was leaning slightly toward the western hemisphere! It's my first cake...I wasn't expecting perfection...well maybe just a tad bit?! I am proud of myself for accomplishing and totally

dominating the cake hurdle! I can't wait to make another one.

We had fun licking the spoons and mixer attachments! :o) Everything was relatively easy to make, the only thing I really had a problem with was my red & blue fondant. The red fondant was the first color I started to mold because I had to make a "1" and his name. Well..after getting very frustrated because I couldn't find a nice medium between too dry and too sticky I gave up on the red and just made the "1", balls, and polka dots. The bottom tier was supposed to have red stripes and I decided to omit them because the fondant was cracking and just plain getting on my nerves! So...I made it work! The blue fondant was not as temper mental as the red, and the yellow was PERFECT. I don't know what the deal was...but I vow to find out how to do it correctly without cracking! :o)

I froze my cakes a couple of days before I decorated. I had no problems with sweating or anything. I took them out of the freezer first thing the morning of decorating and let them thaw out a little bit in the plastic and then unwrapped them a couple of hours later while I made more buttercream and leveled the cake and crumb coated it.

Improvements can definitely be made...but it's my first cake...give me a break here kids! Practice makes perfect!

Cake Boss...?

I have been teaching myself how to bake and decorate cakes! (don't laugh.) And when I say"teaching myself" I mean being taught by my aunt but because we live 8.5 hours apart...It's more of teaching myself and asking her questions/youtube when I get stuck. My reason for doing this came from inspiration from my aunt because well...I'd rather you SEE why then me explain how AWESOME she is! soo here are a couple of pictures...

She is AHH-MAAAZING! My first attempt at this will be my son's 1 year birthday cake! I am so excited about doing this! I have cake freezing in my freezer right now and Buttercream hanging out in tupperware on my counter and 3 mounds of fondant sitting in my fridge. Yup! FONDANT! I am such a professional! haha I cant wait to start putting everything together and watch it form into a beautiful masterpiece such as the ones above...well hopefully.

I have had fun with my KitchenAid Mixer making my buttercream, which I think was more fun "taste-testing" than actually making it! Reagan thought so as well! (pictures to come!) I can't wait to show y'all the finished project and ALL the fun I had on the way!