I Heart Old Navy

Today, I had to take my car to the insurance adjuster to get the estimate for repairs. And, it just so happens that the insurance office is right next door to Old Navy. Since Daddy kept Jack, I thought I should take advantage of my time and do a little shopping. Little did I know, Old Navy would be the source of Jack's spring wardrobe collection. They had so many cute things, and I just could not help myself. I walked out with a lot of little boy clothes and a heck of a lot poorer. Oh well, at least he'll be one well dressed little man this spring! HA!








I love all of the soft blues and greens. I kinda regret not dressing him in more "baby" clothes when he was really little. He was always, and still is, in little man clothes most of the time. I'm sure the girls at daycare will be so excited when he comes in his new "comfy" clothes. Sometimes they change him so he can be more comfy during the day. HA!

Old Navy had some really cute little girl clothes, too. And some REALLY cute little shoes and flip flops. Anyway...

I'll leave you with a couple of pictures of Jack and us.

Daddy and Jack at Spaghetti Warehouse a few weeks ago.

Sorry for the poor quality, the pic was taken with our friend's camera phone.

Mama and Jack before school the other day. Kinda blurry, but o'well.

Woo Hoo!!

Finally, after countless hours of doing and re-doing, I think I've finally figured this blog designing out!  Well, sorta.  With a little help from Randy and lots of help from Google and Gimp, my blog finally looks, on the computer, like what I saw in my head!  Thank goodness!  There are still a million things I want to learn to do, but for now, I'm happy with this.  On to my next project for today... a shower. 

Hope you're having a great weekend.

The Cat in the Hat

March 2 was Dr Seuss' birthday.  So, Happy late Birthday! Jack's school had Dr Seuss' day and his class' book was "The Cat in the Hat" so all the kiddies were "Things."  Complete with hats and all.  I love Dr Seuss and we have quite a few of his books and I even have the cookbook.  It has some really fun recipes for kids. 

 

Jack was "Thing 6"

Jack and his friend, Charlie

All the "Things" with the Cat

 So happy to be at school.

Sorry these pictures are not the greatest.  I got them from Jack's teacher's camera and all were a little blurry and the color was off.  I tried to fix them as best I could, but o'well, I'm just glad to get a few pics from their Dr Seuss Day!

You can read more about Dr Seuss here.  This site has fun, interactive games for kids, a store and Dr Seuss' biography. 

March 2nd was also Read Across American Day.  Read Across American was thought up by the National Education Association and was launched on March 2, 1998.   It's the country's largest "pep rally" for reading and offers activities to keep kids reading all year.

"You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself, any direction you choose."

              ~ Dr. Seuss

the. best. cheesecake. EVER!

I love all things vanilla bean! And, vanilla bean cheesecake is my FAVORITE! My friend Adam is a cheesecake guru and a few years ago came up with a new vanilla bean recipe for me and it is fantastic!!!

INGREDIENTS:

Crust:

1 1/3 cup shortbread cookies (I use Simply Sandies)

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla sugar*

Filling:

1 cup + 2 tablespoons vanilla sugar*

4- 8oz packages cream cheese (Philladelphia is the best)

1 cup sour cream

2 vanilla beans, scraped

4 large eggs

* vanilla sugar - I put 1 vanilla bean, split open, in about 2 cups of sugar and let sit for 3-4 days. (The longer the better.)

For the crust:

Chop cookies in food processor.

In a bowl, mix cookie crumbs, vanilla sugar and cold butter with a fork until combined.

Put in 9" spring form pan, sprayed with Pam and bake at 325 degrees for 5-7 minutes.

For the filling:

Mix cream cheese and sugar until just smooth.  Do not overmix.

Add sour cream and vanilla, mix until blended.

Add eggs, one at a time, mix until smooth.

(Did you notice the little finger print in the bowl.  Yep, I just HAD to taste the batter.  YUMMY!)

Pour batter on top of crust.

Make sure to wrap pan in foil and place in a water bath.  Water should come about half way up spring form pan.

Bake at 325 degrees for 45-50 minutes or until internal temp reaches 155 degrees.

Let cheesecake cool at room temp for about an hour, then cover and refrigerate.

And there you have it.  the. best. cheesecake. EVER!

I like it plain, but if you're a topping kinda person, quarter some fresh strawberries, add a little vanilla sugar and let them chill for a few hours. And you'll have a sweet strawberry topping.

If I can do it, so can you!  So, get your mixer out and start baking!

My new mixer came today, so I see another cheesecake, or other goodies in our near future.  Because that is EXACTLY what we need after last night's dinner of everything fried.  French fries, onion rings and jalapeno poppers.  Yep, I'm getting in swimsuit shape! HA!

Wordless Wednesday

I'm so glad he's a morning person!

My Blog Got a Make-Over

And I did it all by myself.  Well, I had a little help from Google, picnik.com and the awesome people at The Cutest Blog on the Block.  They have some great tips on how to create your own backgrounds, headers, signatures, etc.  Thanks also to the Shabby Princess for the fabulous papers and design elements.  I still have a lot of things I want to do the blog, but there are only so many hours a day that I can devote to blogging and such.  I'd love to hear what yall think of the new digs.  I kinda think it might be too busy, but hopefully it'll grow on me because it was A Lot of WORK!

Jack loves things he cannot have and is especially drawn to cameras, video cameras, remote controls and most recently all the TV equipment (speakers, receiver, etc).  I caught him in the act tonight and apparently I need to dust more often because he left little finger prints on the shelves.  O'well, dusting can wait till another day.

Today's the day!  My Project 365 starts.  Check it out!  I hope I can do it.  I need all the encouragement I can get.

Thanks!