Leslie's Wedding

Leslie and Joe tied the knot on October 25th and we were excited to be there for their big day! Leslie went to law school with Matt and is one of our dear friends. It was so good to see some of our other law school friends as well.

The happy couple, Leslie and Joe.

The wedding ceremony.


Madelynne was ecstatic to go the wedding reception that night. She kept telling anyone who would listen that we were going to go to the party! Madelynne's favorite part of the party was the dancing. She could hardly sit still long enough to eat her dinner. Thanks Melissa, Tom, and Erin for dancing with her and helping keep her out of mischief!!! Matt even got out on the dance floor with Madelynne-crutches and all. He sure loves his little girl!

We had a blast at the reception and were sad when it was time to leave. Melissa and Erin helped me get the kiddos in their jammies for the car ride home and then also helped us get loaded up in the car. Madelynne said the cutest thing as we drove off. She said, "I love those friends!" We are so blessed to have such wonderful friends!!!

Madelynne and Leslie. Madelynne thought Leslie looked like a princess.

Congratulations Leslie and Joe!

Celebrating Matt's 30th Birthday!

Matt turned thirty on October 14th and there was a lot of celebrating to be done! We started the celebrating the night before his birthday when we went to Qdoba to get his free birthday burrito (yum!). Afterwards we went to our favorite bakery in Little Italy to enjoy some tasty treats. This is the first visit to the bakery that I think Madelynne will actually remember (she was too little to remember the previous visits).

Love those burritos!


Our favorite bakery in Little Italy.

Madelynne was so cute inside the bakery. She hugged all the pumpkins and was so excited about how many choices there were for treats! The dress she is wearing was mine when I was her age.

Madelynne chose a cookie with chocolate in it. Are we surprised?

The goodness in a box!


Matt decided he wanted to go out to a birthday breakfast instead of dinner. So, we enjoyed a big breakfast at Yours Truly.



Jackson wasn't quite sure what to make of all the celebrating!


Madelynne picked out a baseball cake for her daddy. She knows what he likes!


Our friends came over that night to help us celebrate and eat cake and ice cream. Madelynne insisted we get party hats and wear them.

Tasty Tuesday

I love fall and all the yummy flavors associated with fall. You know apple, pumpkin, spices, etc. Here is another apple recipe to tempt your taste buds. So good, but very rich! A little goes a long way! Enjoy!




Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars with Streusel Topping

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar, plus 2 tablespoons, divided
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Streusel topping, recipe follows
1/2 cup caramel topping
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a medium bowl, combine flour and brown sugar. Cut in butter with a pastry blender until mixture is crumbly. Press evenly into a 13 by 9 by 2-inch baking pan lined with heavy-duty aluminum foil. Bake 15 minutes or until lightly browned.
In a large bowl, beat cream cheese with 1/2 cup sugar in an electric mixer at medium speed until smooth. Then add eggs, 1 at a time, and vanilla. Stir to combine. Pour over warm crust.
In a small bowl, stir together chopped apples, remaining 2 tablespoons sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Spoon evenly over cream cheese mixture. Sprinkle evenly with Streusel topping. Bake 30 minutes, or until filling is set. Drizzle with caramel topping.
Streusel Topping:
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup quick cooking oats
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
In a small bowl, combine all ingredients.
Yield: approximately 3 cups

Tasty Tuesday

I found this awesome recipe on www.recipegirl.com. We decided to try them on Sunday night and loved them! I think this will be our new fall tradition. Yummy!
Spiced Apple Waffles

Wonderful fall breakfast treat...




Spiced Apple Waffles

3 large eggs

¾ cup buttermilk, warmed

¾ cup milk, warmed

½ cup unsalted butter, melted

1 medium Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and grated

1½ cups flour

1½ tsp pumpkin pie spice

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

½ cup granulated sugar

1 cup toasted pecans (completely optional)
powdered sugar to sift on top


1
Preheat waffle iron. In large bowl, whisk together eggs, buttermilk, milk and butter. Stir in apple. In another bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, spice, baking soda and salt. Add flour mixture to egg mixture; whisk until smooth (some small lumps are ok).

2
Sprinkle 2 T. pecans (if using) onto waffle iron. Pour about 2/3 cup batter onto surface. Cook waffles until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Keep warm in 200°F. oven while cooking the remaining waffles.

3
Serve with warmed maple syrup and a sprinkle of powdered sugar.

Servings: 4 to 6

Cooking Tips:
*Extra waffles freeze nicely. Just warm them up another day by popping them in the toaster.

Recipe Source

Adapted from Williams- Sonoma

The Price is Right

At our house the best price for anything is FREE! Here are a few of the things we have managed to acquire the past couple of months for free! Love it!

Madelynne wanted one of these basketball hoops like you wouldn't believe. Our neighbors had one and let her borrow it in the spring. Shortly after Jackson was born they gave it to Madelynne since they no longer use it. Lucky girl!

This is an awesome vacuum! It retails for about $230+ and we got it for free for participating in a county program. Since we all know how fanatical I am about cleaning this is one of my new favorite things.

This swing is my new best friend. We are borrowing it from a friend (thanks Sarah!) and it is like having an extra set of hands. We got it right before Matt had his surgery and the timing couldn't have been better.

Jammies and Little Republicans

Little ones in jammies are just about one of the sweetest things. They are so cute and cuddly. Tonight after baths I realized that both Jackson and Madelynne had on their elephant jammies. I was thinking "Elephants are really big in fashion right now and so cute on my little ones...". Matt was thinking and said, "Our little republicans." What a difference in our train of thought. Can you tell which one of us is the lawyer in the family?

Matt's Knee Surgery

Matt had his knee surgery on September 25th and it went really well. The doctor was able to remove the cyst and repair the meniscus. The tear was a little more extensive than they originally thought, but they were able to repair it without having to remove tissue which in the long run will be better despite a longer post-op healing time. Matt is doing really well getting around on his crutches and was able to go back to work today. He will be on crutches for the next four weeks and will go to physical therapy once or twice a week.

Matt's first IV ever!



ICE, ICE BABY....THE ICEMAN IN OUR LIFE

The Iceman Cold Therapy unit helps reduce pain and swelling and facilitates rehabilitation. It provides up to 7 hours of continuous cold therapy for a variety of indications.

The hospital sent us home with this gadget. Do not be deceived by it's small appearance. This little "cooler" is like a gas guzzling car. We go through 22 pounds of ice a day to keep this thing operating!!!! I had to do some major rearranging in my freezer and divide the ice into gallon size ziploc bags to make it fit in my freezer. I thought that we would take it home for Matt to use and then return it to the hospital when he no longer needed it (you know, like renting a movie from Blockbuster). But, no it is ours to "keep forever" as the nurse said. What are we going to do with it? When I asked Matt that he said, "Sell it on e-bay." The nurse laughed and agreed. I joked with Matt as he was being given his discharge instructions that he couldn't decide to sell "The Iceman" on e-bay for 24 hours because you are not supposed to make any important decisions before then. I looked it up on e-bay and people are trying to sell these babies for $150!! You know what I could do with $150? The big question is how much did the hospital bill our insurance for this?