Daddy Dress on sweet baby Ava

For Father's Day, my sister had her mother-in-law make sweet Ava a daddy dress from a shirt of Matt's.  She wanted to surprise Matt with some photos of Ava for his office so we set out one hot morning and snapped a few. Ava was a trooper, you can see at the bottom that she got a bit sleepy by the end.
These Daddy dresses have been a big hit, I can't wait to get one made for my Zeda girl.

We recently featured these dresses on Social Graces.

Work day on the farm

A week ago today, Sarah and I had our first work day on the farm. It was so much fun. You are required to do one work day during your CSA but I think I'd like to do another. It was a good workout and we had a beautiful day. The temps were in the low 80's and there was a cool breeze the whole time.

The intern, Dennis was the guys we were assigned to. Poor Dennis, sometimes Sarah and I can be a bit much when we are together. We laughed. A lot. However, Dennis was a trooper and pretty much ignored us the whole time.

It was a good day of meeting new people, learning where our food comes from and living the farm life.

A few highlights:
Dennis making us kill the squash bugs with our bare hands
Learning about the 25,000 ladybugs they release in the fields.
The dinner bell ringing at lunch time
Playing with the Millsap's 8 girls
Calling beets radishes
And, last but not least, taking a peek at Rachel's (the other farm intern) living quarters. She lives in an old chicken coop. I so wish I would have taken a picture.  That's Rachel in the picture below with my sister.

Peanut Butter Mocha Muffins

These puppies just came out of the oven.  I'm enjoying one with my afternoon coffee while I work and Z naps.  So. so. so. good.  I made a few alterations so I wouldn't feel bad about having one for breakfast every morning.
The recipe and photo found here.

2 cups all purpose flour - I used 1 cup whole wheat flour, 3/4 cups white flour and 1/4 cup milled flaxseed
1 stick butter, room temperature - I used 1/4 cup butter and 1/4 cup applesauce 
1/2 cup peanut butter, divided
3/4 cup sugar - I used a little less
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 cup brewed coffee, room temp
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 12 muffin tins with paper liners.

In a medium bowl mix the butter, 1/4 cup peanut butter and sugar with a hand or stand mixer. Add the eggs, vanilla and room temperature coffee. In a separate bowl mix the flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Add the dry mix to the wet mix. Stir only until incorporated. Add about 1/3 cup mix to each muffin tin, filling almost all the way to the top. Top with about 1 tsp of peanut butter.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until a fork inserted comes out clean. 

Cool for about 5 minutes in the pan then finish cool n a wire wrack.

Big Girl Bed

For about a week now, Zeda has been in her big girl bed.  I was really resisting it (like everything) because I didn't want to do the work of making her get back into bed every night and stretching out bed time longer then it already it.  However, like everything, Zeda is a champ and hasn't tried to get out once.  It was a super easy change.
When I was putting her into bed tonight, she melted my heart and I hope I never forget the moment.  Sometimes, I write posts to let people know what's going on at the Murdaugh's, this post, however, is for me to remember when she is 16 and hates me. Ha.
 Zeda asked me to lay with her and I said I would, but only for a couple of songs.  She said, "lay down mommy and close your eyes."  I did and started to sing.  She said, "no mommy sing, Zeza."  So I stopped and she put her hand on my face and said all the words to Twinkle Twinkle, Jesus Loves Me, You Are My Sunshine and The ABC's.  When she was done, she paused and I opened my eyes.  She was looking at me and said, "I wove you mommy."  It's one thing to hear her sweet little voice say it when you ask her to, but it's another when it's all on her own and she says it because she feels it.
Those little words turned a rough day into something glorious.  I'm so thankful for my sweet Zeda girl.

Evidence of Mercy

I have a new thing. Ha. I always have a new thing. I'm one of those people that love a lot of things. I get hooked on something for awhile and then move on to the next "thing". Running, is my new thing. I actually hate to run, like REALLY hate to run but it's something that needs to be done. I want to take care of my body and to stay healthy in my older years. However, I have the hardest time getting my booty out of bed to actual do it. For weeks now, I've been getting up 3 maybe 4 times a week but I really want more consistency. Jarrod has been working out for about 20 minutes everyday for the past two years. He kept talking about the books he's been going through since working out. I never really thought that sounded appealing, until now. I really, really want to read. However, there are a hundred things I really want to do. I'm one that could never get board at home. There are so many things I could do, blogs to write, blogs to read, DIY's to do, recipes to make, shows and movies to watch or games to play with Zeda. Reading is something that gets pushed to the back burner.  Since starting to run, I haven't really listened to music while running. I mean, I like music, but it's not something that motivates me.  I can stop in the middle of a song with no problem.  However, a week ago, I started listening to the book below and have ran longer and farther then I have since starting.  Also, I've been able to get out of bed everyday because I can't wait to hear what happens next.  I'm in love.  Mainly because I'm "reading" and working out all at the same time.  So, I have about 10 books on hold right now at the library.  Let's hope this "new thing" sticks.

Zeda's boyfriend

My sweet friend, Bonnie took some pictures of her son Luke and Zeda at her birthday party.  They are really really cute.  You should check them out here.

Finger paint

We had a fun session with Meg the other night. Since Z isn't smiling very good for pictures, I thought I would try something more fun. She got finger paints for her birthday from Kendall so I thought, why not?
 It was fun. However, she's like her daddy and doesn't like things on her face. :)

Check out the rest here.

Father's Day

Yesterday morning I made Jarrod waffles for Father's Day.  He liked them.  Zeda made him a card, it was pretty cute watching her give it to him.

I can't get enough of this stuff

My new favorite drink.  I've had one almost everyday since Zeda's party last Sunday. So. So. So. good.  Today, my mixture is all gone so I now must move on but I will miss this little concoction.

1/2 Jar - Special mixtures

1/2 Jar - Sprite

1 shot - gin

Special mixtures - Last Sunday was Z's party, to drink I had a mixture of lemonade, frozen strawberries and fresh cut lemons.  After the party, the lemonade was gone leaving me with a TON of fruit.  So I poured a large amount of water in the container and let it sit overnight which created my "special mixture"  It was too stout to just drink as juice so I made other plans for it. 

The sprite was also leftover from the party, therefore, I will not have that in my house either.  Sad day my favorite drink is gone, I guess I will create another. :)

Doll House

Zeda got a doll house from her great aunts and uncles for her birthday. She LOVES it. I can't get her to stop playing. Sweet sweet baby Zeda, I love watching her play and grow her imagination. Love.

CAN. NOT. BELIEVE.

My Zeda Girl is TWO! Love you baby Z
Photo by Meg White Photography

Tuesday

I've decided that Tuesday mornings will be Zeda and Mommy time. Since I've started Social Graces I try to blog and research and answer emails whenever I get a second. I tell Zeda no a LOT and have her go play by herself. This method isn't working for me so well. We made the decision for me to MOSTLY stay at home with Zeda so that we have that quality time together. So when I'm cooking dinner in the evenings and she wants me to hold her, I wont feel bad saying no because we've spent the day together. Since I am still working at the church about 16 hours a week and trying to get Social Graces up and running, I thought it's time to make a schedule for myself. To start, Tuesdays are Zeda's day and I can still work a little during nap time. The harder we play, the longer the nap.  Perfect.

Here is what we did yesterday... (after a short trip to the bank)

Story time at the library.  Of course we couldn't leave without picking out some books to take home

A trip to the Zoo

Chalk time.  She always wants me to draw "our family"

After nap we went to the farm to pick up our CSA

Look at all those yummy veggies!

After dinner we met Nik and Meg for a little photo shoot.  I took pictures of them, you can view them here and she took some of our family for Z's two year pictures.  I'll post those when they are finished!

It's a girl!

My college friend, Brooke is having a baby and I couldn't be more excited for her. She has been such a good friend of mine over the years and I can't wait for her to experience motherhood. There is just nothing like it. Last Tuesday, while swimming with friends and our babies I got a call from Brooke asking if I could make her a cake with the gender color in the middle. She was finding out the next day at 5pm (LA time) and there wasn't a bakery in Springfield that stayed open until 7pm. Well the next day was Zeda's birthday and we would be at Silver Dollar City. Since it was going to be 90 out, I knew we wouldn't be there all day so I agreed. I baked the cake on Tuesday and got home right at 7pm Wednesday to ice it. I started to ice the bottom and top so when she called all I needed to do was fill the middle with pink or blue and finish the sides.

I decided to try a new look. I'm not a cake decorator by any means but my friend, Jen said these roses were really easy to do. You didn't need to be an expert. Well, the girl was right. I think they turned out pretty good for my first time and I was able to do it in a jiffy! Click here to read the rest of the story.

Congrats Brooke and Jarod! We love you guys and I can. not. wait. to hold your little girl.

Zeda's Party

Yesterday was Z's second birthday party.  We had a blast and so did the birthday girl.  Today, we have been playing with all her new toys and currently she is taking a nap in her princess tent.  I'm still a bit exhausted but I'm getting the house put back together one step at a time.  Thanks to all who really helped!  I'd like to especially thank Mae Mae for helping set up and for taking pictures (I'll post more when I get them).  I didn't take a single picture all day!
Love you all.  Thank you so much for loving and supporting my little one.  It means a lot to me.

Birthday Week

It's my baby girl's birthday this week. I no longer can call her my baby. She's a big girl now. Love love love her. I can't get enough. :) Let the celebrating begain!

My little munchkins

I love having all three of them. Jey and Zeda entertain themselves so I get some quality time with baby Ava. So fun.

Happy Birthday Mama!

Friday was my mom's birthday and we celebrated with dinner and a little dessert.  Mom's favorite sweet is strawberry short cake.   I made/tweaked a SSC recipe that will come out July 4th week on Social Graces.
Happy Birthday Mama!  We love you so very much!