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Happy Balloon Lilac Birthday Invitation

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Shutterfly

I love, love, LOVE shutterfly.com.  For those of you that haven't used it before . . . .2012 is the time to start!!  You can upload all of your digit photographs for storage, order prints, enlargements, photo books, invitations.  I just ordered 25 baby shower invitations for $30.  I just saved so much time by ordering these from a trusted site!!!  Now I can spend more time with my daughter and husband and less time handwriting invitations.  Please click on the shutterfly.com link and find out what amazing deals they are currently running!!  Happy 2012!!!!

Stationery Card

Dress Up Blue Baby Shower Invitation

Shutterfly has photo invitations for every occasion.

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Couple Time?? What is that?????

I agree with Nikki . . . .couple time is important.  But HOW????  I am still learning how to balance my wife/mother/work/house responsibilities.  As much as I hate to admit it . . . My Husband seems to have been pushed off to the side for the moment.  Work. . . I go everyday.  Can't say much more than that.  I love the people I work with . . . but I hate my job.   I want to be home taking care of my family.  I know that and I also know there is nothing I can do about it.  Thankfully, my husband helps with the house responsibilities and does a great job at it!  The mother responsibility is fabulous, but I don't get enough time with her.

My day consists of getting up at 4:50.  I leave for work at 6 am.  Work from 6:30 - 3:30.  Get home around 4:15.  Get some loving from my beautiful daughter if she is awake.  We play for an hour and then I start dinner and she goes in her seat.  Bath time is after dinner and then bed around 7:30.  THEN it's time for laundry and cleaning until my bedtime around 10.  Then up a few times to get Gabrielle . . .and back at it again.  How do I manage this better????  It's not working.  I don't get enough time with Gabrielle and I DEFINITELY don't get enough time with my husband.  I'm not sure when we actually had a conversation about something other than our daughter.  If only we lived in a perfect world . . . .

How do you balance your duties???

How the smallest things can remind you of your kids

The post that I just recently blogged about in regards to husband and wife alone time, leads me to this posting.  Like I said before, we all need our alone time with our spouses, but it just surprises me how the most annoying thing to some people can be the one thing that makes us miss our child/children when we're away from them.

When my husband and I were out to dinner after the football game, we were having a nice dinner and talking more than we had talked about nonsense in such a long while.  Everything was going great and I wasn't wanting the night to end until....I heard a kicking and screaming kid!  Yes, that can be annoying to someone or most people, but it saddened me.  It reminded me of one of the best things I am in my life besides a wife, A Mother.  When I heard that child scream, I told my husband, that reminds me of our kids.  I was then ready to go home and give my kids the biggest hug and kiss and never let go.  Now I'm not saying that my kids are out of control, but we all have those screamers and kickers at times.

God put me on earth for a number of reasons and I know two of them are being a wife and mother.  I love being both, but coming home everyday and seeing my kids smiles and getting there hugs and kisses is the greatest reward in life. 

Everyone needs husband and wife alone time

My husband and I, like most parents, don't get too much alone/date nights.  He owns a business, so his hours are usually long and most of the time you never know how to plan your evening or even weekends.  Therefore, when we do make plans, it's always at the last minute.  But he is the greatest husband and dad that I could ever ask for. 

So since we don't get alot of alone time, usually once a year, he usually plans something wonderful.  We're huge Colt's fans, even though the season is awful this year, but we stick with them through the bad times.  For my birthday, he bought us Colt's football tickets on Sunday.  I had a hunch, but he didn't officially tell me until Saturday evening and I didn't even know where our seats were until we sat down.  Needless to say, he hit the jackpot with our seats and I was speechless. 

Even though it was just a football game and a dinner, we needed that alone time.  I believe every couple needs that, because sometimes we all get caught up in our crazy busy lives and forgot what is mostly important...the love you and your spouse share. 

Cranberry Cream Cheese Dip

I will definitely have to try this at Thanksgiving!!

Cranberry Cream Cheese Dip

Time: 15 minutes prep + 4 hours refrigeration

Yield: 15 servings

PRINT RECIPE

1  12 oz package fresh cranberries

1/4 C green onion, chopped

1/4 C cilantro, chopped

1 small jalapeno pepper

1 1/4 C sugar

1/4 t cumin

2 T lemon juice

dash salt

2  8 oz packages cream cheese

  

1. Put your cranberries in a food processor. I used my mini chopper. You could also, just chop them up.

  

2. Chop up your green onion, cilantro, and jalapeno pepper into small pieces. Careful of the seeds now. Throw on a pair of rubber gloves or something, please. The seeds are the hot part of the pepper. If you don't like a lot of heat on the old pallet, just leave the jalapeno out.

3. Add all ingredients (but the cream cheese and the wheat thins) into a bowl. Mix them all together, cover and store in the fridge for at least 4 hours. The sugar needs some time to soak in to the cranberries and break up their bitter taste.  

4. When you are ready to serve, place your cream cheese bricks on a plate.

 

5. Spread the cream cheese out as evenly as you can.

 

6. Pour your cranberry mixture over the cream cheese.

 

7. Spread it all around.

8. Serve immediately with Wheat Thins, Ritz Crackers or Tortilla Chips.