Over the Lakes, & Thru the Woods...

To Grandma and Grandpa Ver Strate's we go(with a pit stop in Janesville, WI to play with great granma Brown)!!!

Addison enjoyed her new found freedom in having her seat turned around. She loved playing peek a boo with daddy and mommy, watching movies, reading her books and playing with her toys.

We made a pit stop to visit GG for a bit in WI. Addison quickly made herself at home in GG's house, pulling cans out of the cubbards to stack them, dragging cases of pop across the floor, reading books to GG, playing with GG's fun toys,taunting Great Aunt Linda in pulling ornaments off the tree, and her favorite...climbing on all the furniture:)

After GG's we ventured on over to MI to spend Christmas with the ENTIRE Ver Strate clan. It snowed enough to cover the grown and take the kids out for a few 4 wheelin' sleigh rides. The kids loved to pile up on Rich and ride along:)

Addison got lots of play time with grandma VerStrate and her cousin Isabelle.

We all went out for dinner at Tres Amigos to celebrate my birthday!! With this big of a family there is sure a good time to be had:)

                       

We had such a great year, and so much to be thankful for. We look forward to seeing

you all in the new year and pray that your New Year be filled with the love of Jesus!!             

super woman vs abiding

Say Whaaat?!!?

such a fun stage we are in with our little girl:) she is starting to sound more words out and has added a few more words to her vocabulary!! When it comes to names she can only get out the end part...so for her friend Summer is "merr" and Elmo is "mo" :-) oh and everything seems to be "ought" for hot, and you will find her blowing on whatever is "ought" to cool it down:)  Here are a few of her recent favorites:


"AT" for hat

"Coookie"

Merry Christmas!!

Addison (with the help of mom) hosted her first Christmas Party! It was quite the party. She made ornaments for her baby friends(she is very talented at 1) and mom made a yummy French Vanilla scrub for all her mommy friends. All the babies dressed for the occasion, they chased each other around, ate lots of snacks(gold fish are the "in" thing) and took lots of fun pictures. Here are a few pics from her party!!

All Grown Up!???!!

Addison and I were out shopping the other day and stopped to get pizza for lunch. We sat down to eat our pizza and as usual I will cut the pizza up into small bites for her so she can pick them up with her hand or try to stab the pieces with her fork. To my dismay she started to throw a fit and swiping her arms across her tray like she did not want them(keep in mind pizza is one of her favs) and she kept pointing to the plate on the table(where the rest of the pizza was) I soon realized she wanted to eat like mom and hold the entire slice of pizza in her own two hands!!! Or in her words..."enough with the baby bites mom...I want the whole slice!!!"

Here's to My Girlfriends!!

Girlfriend Motto
Girlfriends honor us and our choices ~although they may not agree~ Girlfriends live without judgment. Girlfriends live without jealousy. Girlfriends honor confidences. Girlfriends lift us up without rescuing us. Girlfriends always live in truth ~and that truth being spoken in love~ Girlfriends Celebrate our differences. Girlfriends know how to listen. Just listen. Girlfriends know how to love themselves and so then are able to love us ~unconditionally~ Girlfriends Celebrate! ~Rachel

I am not sure why we don't celebrate our girlfriends more often!!(me especially) I was talking with one of my girlfriends recently and she felt bad for bringing up a touchy subject with me. I then realized that, that is why God gave us girlfriends, to talk about our "touchy" subjects in life. To go through life as we call it together. I am not sure about you but I tend to put walls up around certain areas of my life becuase I don't want to "burden" others with it. But He uses our life lessons to help and even encourage others. I have also learned that if I do open up with what is going on with me, it is bound to happen that one of my girlfriends are going through the same thing!! I am so blessed to be surrounded by a great group of women who are there to cheer me on, cry with me, and laugh with me. Thank you ladies!!

Top 5 Pumpkin Ideas

Now what do we do with you Mr. Pumpkin?!!!?

5.

So lets start with the pie that is a must have at every Thanksgiving dinner...I have to admit I am not a pumpkin pie fan...I know I know, what world did I come from right!! well, I have just never really ever been a fan of it, but now maybe this year I will search for a good recipe and see if I can master the art of pumpkin pie making:) (side note if I were to make pumpkin pie it would not look anything like the picture above, I am almost sure of this, my pie would probably be burnt, and a little lopsided...who knows)

4.

Oh no no...DO NOT I repeat DO NOT let those pumpkin seeds go to waste!! It is kinda gross but get  your hands dirty and separate the seeds from the slimy innards!! Put the seeds in the collandar and rinse them off. After rinsing lay the seeds out on your baking sheet to dry. After the seeds dry place them in a bowl and coat them with olive oil and creole seasoning(or whatever seasoning fancys you) Turn the oven to 350 and bake for 40minutes! Then wa la!! the best tasting pumpkin seeds EVER!!!

3.

Make Pumpkin Gingerbread !! I found this recipe online at allrecipes.com. This recipe is actually what inspired me to figure out ideas on how to get the best use out of our halloween pumpkin. This bread warm out of the over with your favorite cup of jo is mmmm delish!!

2.

Pumpkin Ice Cream!???! who would've thought!! well, whoever did, GENIUS!! I will have to go and search for a good recipe for this, but I am sure it wont be hard:) Since ice cream is a favorite around here I thought I would try my hand at making homemade pumpkin ice cream!!

AND the #1 idea IS....

1.

Well, you gotta puree the pumpkin to get to any of the above... right!! :-) I found way to puree my pumpkin...I scraped out the innards and cut the pumpkin up into 1/4 sections, put some water in the bottom of my baking pans and placed the sections in the pan. Then I turned the oven on to 450 and let them bake for 45minutes. After letting them cool I scraped the pumpkin off of the skin and placed in my food processor for pureeing. I am not good at guessing how big our pumpkin was but I got 8 16oz jars of pumkin puree!! If you are in the giving mood you could can the puree and put some ribbon around the jar and give the pumpkin puree as a gift:)

Happy Pumpkining!!

Happy BZZZZaloween!!

October was filled with lots of fun activities for the VerStrate clan. This year we dressed Addison up as a BumbleBee. We got lots of good use out of the costume. She went to her first baby costume party, got to go trick or treat at the zoo and make crafts, and story time at the library had a costume party read along.

 We also took her to her first pumpkin patch to pick out her very own pumpkin. As you can see she found the perfect one.  I found a "Mr. Skeleton Potato Head" from target to dress her pumpkin up(we weren't quite ready for her to dig into the pumpkin and be wearing the entire pumkin on her. Knowing our daughter we would be have pumpkin findings all over our house and her for days!)

I thought I would leave you with this classic picture from her costume party, it was for sure a hallmark moment, all of us moms are still giggling about the entire ordeal, but the moment was for sure a precious one! We hope everyone is enjoying their fall!!

Happy Bzzzzaloween,

love the VerStrate's

Cards by Me!

Well ever since my daughter has gone to one LONG nap in the afternoons, I have found that I have way more time on my hands to do things I want to do!! So I dusted off my craft box, sharpeded up my scissors, found some cute paper and stamps and this is what I came up with:

I call this collection "just cause"

Quote of the Day

I am not sure who came up with this quote or motto, but I found it through a google feed I was scrolling through and thought how funny, but true it is!

I LOVE my Husband!!

I have noticed recently that I blog more about my daughter and random things than I do about how great my husband is. Which I am sure he is thankful I don't post pictures of him and all he does every other week:) and get all mushy mushy on him to the world, but this post is dedicated to how wonderful he is***WARNING*** this could get really mushy, cause you to gag mushy mushy, and maybe even get you to blog about your husband mushy mushy ;-)


Where do I even begin, lets start with...
**I love that on Saturdays he will play with Addison and let me sleep in and have coffee and breakfast ready for us as I mozy on about the morning
**I love how diligent of a worker he is around the house and at his job
**I love that he will clean up after dinner and let me relax on the couch so I can watch my fav shows
**I love that he takes time from work to stay home with Addison so I can go to MOPS and relax
**I love that I can call on a whim to see if he will pick up dinner on his way home from work
**I love his Integrity
**I love how he cares and provides for Addison and I
**I love when he looks at me acroos the room and gives me his smile and winks ;-)
**I love how we can talk about anything and overcome obstacles together
**I love that no matter how busy he is with work he is never to busy for me
**I love his love for God and his desire to follow him daily
**I love my husband!!!

I could go on and on but lets just end with how much I do appreciate my husband and all that he does for my daughter and I! He is the best!! love you mister:)

Apple Pickin'

Well we rounded up the gang over the weekend and headed out to Minnesota Harvest in Jordan, MN to go roam around the orchard and pick apples. Addison had a blast with her cousins running around and picking up the apples off the ground. She even got to pick her first apple from the tree(with the help of mom) and she was so excited she developed a new expression  :-o "ooooh" it is the cutest expression! She even took a few bites and carried it around like it was her prize possession.

Moments Like This...

I love sharing moments like this with my daughter!! I will make toast with grandma's homemade strawberry jam in the morning and she will come find me and look at me to share with her. So we sit on the kitchen floor and I take a bite then she gets a bite:) As we take our bites of toast she chit chats with  me and we giggle and eat the toast all up! yummy:)

Footprints on our Hearts

I was given this poem by my aunt way back in the day that hangs on my wall. There are a few verses that always stick out to me and as I read them I sit and reflect on the journeys I go thru in life with my family, friends, and the random people I meet in the store or on the street. It is the last verse that I seem to dwell on the most lately as I have been going through this new chapter in my life...

“Some People” By Flavia Weedn

Some people come into our lives and quickly go… Some stay for awhile and embrace our silent dreams.

They help us become aware of the delicate winds of hope… and we discover within every human spirit there are wings yearning to fly.

They help our hearts to see that the only stairway to the stars is woven with dreams… and we find ourselves unafraid to reach high.

They celebrate the true essence of who we are… and have faith in all that we may become.

Some people awaken us to new and deeper realizations… for we gain insight from the passing whisper of their wisdom

Throughout our lives we are sent precious souls… meant to shareourjourney however brief or lasting their stay they remind us why we are here.

To learn… to teach… to nurture… to love

Some people come into our lives to cast a steady light upon our path and guide our every step their shining belief in us helps us to believein ourselves.

Some people come into our lives to teach us about love… The love that rests within ourselves.

Let us reach out to others and feel the bliss of giving for love is far richer in action that it ever is in words.

Some people come into our lives and they move our souls to sing and make our spirits dance.

They help us to see that everything on earth is part of the incredibility of life… and that it is always there for us to take of its joy.

Some people come into our lives and leave footprints on our hearts and we are never ever the same.

Bears, Moose, Deer, OH MY!!!

We took our first family camping trip this past week up to Twin Lakes State Park in the upper peninsula of MI. We met Rich's family up there and had a great time exploring, feeding ducks, seeing wild life, and collecting rocks...lots of rocks!! Addison loved playing with her cousins and chasing them around the camp ground. Grandpa loved to take Addison and Daisy for a morning walk in the wagon around camp before breakfast. The weather was perfect all week and surprisingly the mosiqitos stayed away!! A couple of days we went out to Lake Superior and played along the beach to find pretty rocks and ended up in the water a few times. It was actually really nice water to swim in. Addison had a fun time trying to eat every rock she picked up and running out into the water. Needless to say she kept mommy and daddy on their toes!

And She's Off!!

Our little baby is girl is walking at 10 months!! It was a process for her to get to this milestone but with her daddy's mindset she was bound and determined to make it!! Around 4 or months she decided she was done sitting and just wanted to stand on her own feet! So we picked up a walker for her because mommy and daddy's arms could only handle so much of holding this little one up:) She figured out fast how to tool around the kitchen in that thing, in no time was she cruising around our center island and under the table and back around again:) At 6 months she realized, hey if I grab onto mommy or daddy's fingers and pull myself up they will help me walk around. And so began her walking fetish. She new how to find your thumbs and pull them up and if you weren't quick to your feet she was more than happy to help you up!! She was getting braver and braver by the day and soon was scaling the furniture on her own and was down to a one thumb helper. On July 19th she took her first couple steps on her very own by walking from daddy to mommy! After a few tumbles she reverted back to the crawling deal. I am pretty sure she was inspired by a few of her baby friends that are now walking that she decided within the last few weeks shee too can walk all by herself and she did!! Yay!!!

Still the BEST Day EVER!!!!

On August 8th Rich and I celebrated the gift of "Leather" or in laymans terms our 3rd Anniversary:) Although we didn't exchange "leather" type gifts we do have the best give ever from God to celebrate our anniversary...our little baby girl!! We had a pretty low key day spending time together and a nice dinner at night. I am deffinately blessed by this man!

Ummm...YUMMEEE!!

The original name for these bars are Warm Toasted Marshmallow Bars from Betty Crocker, I have changed the named to Yummeee Smore's!! You can also say I "enhanced" the recipe a little:) ok all I did was use Nutella chocolate instead of the suggested chocolate chips!
div>Here is what you need:
1pkg of Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie mix
1cup of crumbled up graham cracker
1cup of butter(melted)
1jar of Nutella Chocolate
1/2bag of mini marshmallows

Here is what you do:
Heat oven to 375°F. In large bowl, stir together cookie mix and crumbs. Stir in melted butter until soft dough forms. Press into ungreased baking pan

Bake 18 to 20 minutes or until set. Immediately spread chocolate evenly over crust.

Set oven control to broil. Sprinkle marshmallows over melted chocolate. Broil with top 5 to 6 inches from heat 20 to 30 seconds or until marshmallows are toasted. (Watch closely; marshmallows will brown quickly.) Cool 10 minutes.

ENJOY!!

Watcha Been Up Too?!!??

Boy oh Boy has this summer gone by fast! I almost forgot I even have a blog:) So here I am bloggin' away once again!! In July we took a road trip back to Michigan to visit family and friends. Along the way we made a pit stop in Wisconsin to see my grandma and a few cousins and Aunts! As always grandma loaded us up with the "good" fireworks and we were on our way. Over all the trip was fun even though Addison decided she would start teething again:-0 She loved playing with her cousins and toolin' around grandma and grandpa's back yard! She even had her first 4-wheelin' ride with daddy!!

Being a SAHM brings lots of play dates with Addison's friends. We learned she loves the water from all the pool/splash pad outings we had and we frequented the zoo as well! Rich and I were able to play softball this summer, our team came in 3rd over all!! with the season over we have been out running the neighbor hood and getting back to the good ol house projects. Which I am proud to say the outside is almost done!!

Now with fall around the corner I am getting ready to serve in the MOPS group at our church. I am excited and nervouse for this adventure. Being that I am still a rookie mom and all, not sure I will have the best advice for the moms at my table, but way excited to meet them and use the talents I do have to minister to them all!

well I better be off, the babe is about to wake from her nap, I will try and post pictures soon of our summer adventures!!

Guilt Free Brownies!??!!!

Yes it is so, I was prusing the aisles of Trader Joes and found this box of brownie mix. All you add is a thing of vanilla yogurt, stir the yogurt and brownie mix together and bake for 25 minutes. I was a little skeptical at first but I have to admit they are the yummiest brownies I have had...sorry Pillsbury and Betty Crocker!! They are super moist and all sorts of yummy chocolately goodness:)

Diaper Babies

(Brandon,Summer,Addison,Adry)


for daddy's day a friend of ours(summer's mom) thought it would be fun if we got the babies down to their diapers, laid some paper on the floor, took out the paints and with mom's help of course we let them decorate a pot with their hands and feet! I think the moms had more fun than the babies did, but it was deffinately cute to see the end result. They were more interested in crawling around into the paint and sticking the paint brushes in the mouth!

the finished product...Happy Fathers Day!!

Milestones

I can crawl now!!!

Yes we are mobile, she started out with the army inch worm crawl and would pout the entire crawl until she reached a toy and then the pouting stopped. she would even look up every so often to see if you were going to help walk her over to the toy... so rough being a baby:)

Big Girl!!

no more car seats brought into the store or resturants...mainly because mommy's back needs a break(I feel so old after hauling her car seat in and out)and she is to the point that she can sit up so big!! she loves it:)

Walking??!!??

no not yet, but she would much rather walk then crawl!! she will even grab for your fingers to help pull her up so she can walk wherever her hearts desire. She is deffinately a determined little girl:) if she sees something she wants(mainly the remotes, or our phones) one track mind until she gets the prize only to be taken away...mean mommy and daddy:) She can pull herself up now and walk around the coffee table, and transfer to the couch(if it is close enough) now only to figure out how to get back down after we are up...yes we have had quite a few tumbles, but we are learning:) Addison proofing the house has deffinately begun, we have had to move a little shelf and all the picture frames and magazines on the bottom shelves....GONE!!

MID WEEK LAUGH:-)

as I was scrolling through my fb wall I came across this funny little diddy:) and wanted to share it with you all!

MIDDLE AGE TEXTING CODES:

ATD -at the doctor.
BFF - best friend fell.
BTW -bring the wheelchair.
BYOT -bring your own teeth.
FWIW -forgot where I was
GGPBL -gotta go, pacemaker battery low.
GHA -got heartburn again.
IMHAO -is my hearing aid on?
LMDO -laughing my dentures out
OMMR -on my massage… recliner
ROFLACGU -rolling on floor laughing and can't get up.
TTYL -talk to you louder!

Cashew Chicken Thai Salad

YUMMEEE is all I can say about this recipe. I found it on http://www.cookinglight.com/ . I have to admit I changed a few things about the recipe... for instance, the recipe is actually called Peanut Chicken Soba Salad. I grilled the chicken in a frying pan instead of boiling it, and then cooked the cashews(I also used cashews instead of peanuts) with the chicken for a few minutes. Instead of Soba noodles (I could not find these noodles for the life of me) I used Pad Thai noodles. Being that I love lots of sauce I doubled the ingredients for the dressing as well!!(just an FYI the sauce recipe below is not doubled) All I can say is we love love love this salad. I think it just became a regular meal around the Ver Strate household!!!

Ingredients
Asian Seasoning
6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
4 teaspoons unsalted, dry-roasted cashews

Sauce
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
2 tablespoons roasted peanut oil
2 teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon chili garlic sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 bag of Pad Thai noodles cooked
1 cup grated carrot
1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions
1/4 cup minced red onion
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
Lime wedges (optional)

Preparation
Cut the chicken into salad pieces and season with Asian Seasoning. Cooking in frying pan until done. Add the nuts and cook for 5 minutes. (Set aside)
Combine vinegar and next 5 ingredients (vinegar through salt), stirring with a whisk. Pour over chicken; let stand 5 minutes. Add Pad Thai noodles and the next 4 ingredients (noodles through chopped basil) to chicken mixture, and toss well. Garnish with lime wedges, if desired.

yeah for MOMS!!

Being a full-time mother is one of the highest salaried jobs... since the payment is pure love. ~Mildred B. Vermont

Happy Mothers Day!! I always knew my mom loved me and I have always appreciated her but it wasn't until I had a child of my own how deep her love was for her children and how much more I truly appreciated her. I love my daughter through and through. She has the best giggles and can fill the room with laughter instantly. I have quickly realized that being a mom is a FULL time job. You don't get sick days or vacation, and what is a weekend!??!!! My daughter is only 7 months and we have already had our ups and downs. And to think we have many more months and years to go:) (this is where my appreciation for my mom is even greater!) I know, I know, how could I give my mom any trouble...I was the perfect princess:) haha even I know that's not true:) the saying "redheads have a bad temper"... ya...well that is all I'm sayin'! That is why I think God gave me a daughter...to be my mom and His entertainment for the next 18yrs:) (I say 18 yrs cause I am sure those were some of the best years for my mom and I) so here's to all the moms out there...have a fun mothers day and enjoy your babes:)

5 Minutes feels like an Eternity...

...when you are putting down your baby for a nap in her crib for the first time! I know I should've started nap time in the cribs alot sooner, but sometimes I would lay down with my babe for nap time too so it was just easier to take her to bed with me. Although she does sleep in her crib at nights, nap time just happened to be with mom in bed. Addison is 7 months now and thought it would be time to put her in her crib for nap time. She cried and cried and cried some more!! I know there a some parents out that have mixed feelings on how long to let your baby cry before running to pick them up. I just remember reading and having my pediatrician tell me to wait let them cry for at least 5 minutes and then go to their attention. So I tried the 5 minute rule per say and ended up crying myself :o After she finally settled down to sleep I went and checked on her to only hear her little wimpering cries while sleeping :( you know the one...that broke my heart, just thinking about it brings a tear to my eye! So what do you think?? I am not sure it helps that she might be going through seperation anxiety. The rest of the day and even today I couldn't set her down to play while I went to the bathroom or get a glass of water. But as soon as I am back by her side the crying stops! What is a mom to do?!!??

a few of my favorite things....

mmmm...nothing like waking up to a cup of coffee and strawberries topped off with some Nutella Chocolate!
BUT.... I would have to say my absolute favorite to wake up to in the morning is this....

my little bella babe is such a joy and so much fun. She has the best giggles and cutest smile that could brighten up your day:) She deffinately knows how to fill the room with laughter!

New Look Same Stuff ;-)

I was inspired by a few of my friends blogs to venture out and try something new. I wouldn't call myself an advid blogger, and I am deffinatly not an expert either:) I have always used your basic Blogger template and changed the background a few times....now I have no clue what I can and cannot do with this new template of mine! I found it on www.ourblogtemplates.com ( I found the link on my friend Nealy's blog) and it was still FREE!! I liked the look of the different columns and you can link your posts as pages(not sure how to do that one yet but sounds cool) plus it seemed like a good challenge for me to figure it out. It might take me awhile(hence why I am not your advid Blogger) but I do enjoy talking through my random thoughts every once in awhile and if I have a good recipe to share with you...I'll blog about that too:)

I have Bibber Fever :)

I know... I know.. that was a lame joke but sometimes I just like to make myself laugh :)!!
A good friend of mine had made Addison some bibs as a shower gift and I fell in love with them. Not only were they cute but I love the snaps on them. I don't know about you but the velcro on the bibs you get from the store, drives me bonkers!!! After you wash the bib that has the velcro on it, the velcro folds over on you and then irritates the babies neck. Ummmm :-o unless, maybe I am the only one who experiences this....so I set off to find the pattern or one similar and tried my hand at making a few. I succeeded only after I cut and sewed the 3rd or 4th one:) I wont show you pictures of the first few I "tried" making but I will show you the finished product!! Oh here is the link where I found the patteren, they are easy to make, I promise:)


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