Spinach & Artichoke Dip

Last post until I head to bed. For all you momma's who like to try new recipes, this is a MUST! We threw my mom a surprise 51st birthday party this week, and I attempted my first home made restaurant style spinach & artichoke dip. The recipe is as follows :

Ingredients
*1 tsp of minced garlic
*1/2 package of Philidelphia Cream cheese ;softened
*1 Cup of Shredded Mozarrella cheese
*1/3 Cup grated Parmesean Cheese
*10 oz frozen spinach, thawed & drained
*12 oz Alfredo Style Pasta sauce
*14 Oz. can of chopped Artichoke Hearts

Directions:
*Preheat the oven to 350'.
*Put all ingredients above in a 8''by8'' baking dish & mix them up WELL!
*Cover & back for 30 minutes.

I found this recipe at allrecipes.com; however I changed it a wee bit. It came out absolutely DELICIOUS! Needless to say, there weren't any leftovers. Enjoy, mommas!

Mya's 2nd Birthday (August 6th,2010)

I promise I normally won't post this many blogs in one day... But I am super excited I have somewhere I can store all my thoughts, pictures, ect. I never really got the chance to upload all of Mya's birthday pictures. She turned 2 on August 6, 2010 and had an "Elmo" birthday party. I made her outfit in the pictures above and below:

Pinching Pennies & Giving Away Freebies

So what does a Stay @ Home Momma do? The answer is simple. Somedays I do EVERYTHING. Somedays I do NOTHING. I love my job, I love being Mya's mommy. I love getting to spend absolutely every moment I can basking in her joyfullness, the simple wonders of childhood.



I don't love being broke ALL. THE. TIME! It really stinks having to pinch pennies, sacrifice WANTS, & staying at home all the time because we can't afford to go out. Not in every sense of the word, we are far from poor, but I like to think being conservative & saving money is more beneficial to Mya's future than sqaundering every extra penny we get on *wants*. Our wants of course, Mommy and Daddy's... Mya gets everything she wants & then some. She is one spoiled little girl!



But I wouldn't trade being a stay @ home momma to Mya for anything in the world. Its okay with me that we don't have tons of extra money. I can't get back Mya's first 5 years at any cost. I am 100% against daycare. I can't, won't, never could do it. Not that there is anything wrong with it, its a personal decision and everyone has different wants and needs. Mine just happens to be being with Mya as much as I can. I am her mom, I don't want her away from me for 8+ hours a day. I realize some people aren't as fortunate and don't have a choice, but as long as I am able I will continue loving my job as being Mya's momma.



Stay at home momma's have to come up with SOME way to make a little extra money. Making bows, crafts, painting. We all do it! I love making bows, bows and more bows. Especially since we don't leave the house without one (or 2) in Miss Priss' hair.



So here's the deal. I want to get some people to reading my blog. In exchange I will do some GIVEAWAYS :). Freebies, freebies, and MORE FREEBIES! Who doesn't like something free? I know I sure love a deal.



So follow the blog, answer this question in a comment, and leave the rest to me! I will randomly select a winner for the following FREEBIE!



*WHAT IS YOUR NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION & HOW WILL YOU SUCCEED?*

Happy New Year's

My New Year's resolution this year is to keep up with this Blog! So much has happened this year, and I am THANKFUL it has come to an end. Today my princess, 28 mos, had a visit to the ER. She has ear infection, sore throat, and a viral infection. Not the best way to bring in the New Year, but after the visit to the hospital she already seems to be doing at least 80% better.

We had a wonderful Christmas and this time of year is truly my favorite, but this year imparticular I had a hard time getting into the Christmas spirit. I don't know if it is because of the hot weather ( I mean actually being able to comfortably wear shorts on Christmas day), lack of money, family issues or a combination of the three... But I am hopeful next Christmas will be much better .We are planning to go to Disney World :) Now if that doesn't put me in a great mood, I don't know WHAT CAN!

INSERT PICTURES OF CHRISTMAS

I hope everyone has a fantastic New Year, bringing it in with the ones you love. As for myself, I am typing this blog as my DD is watching "Sid The Science Kid,"and Matt is sleeping. In approximately 40 minutes I will share my New Year's kiss with Mya Grace. Happy New Year !

Skipping School!

Mya has ALWAYS been a good sleeper;however, occasionaly she will wander off down the road of RESTLESSNESS and it just so happens that she usually picks important nights, SCHOOL nights to do that on! Last night (or should I say early this morning?), she woke up aroun 2:30 AM... and did not fall back asleep until 5:30 AM! She insisted on LAYING ON MY FACE for some odd reason...and of course curling my hair through her little fingers as she sucked her thumb. I made her a milk bottle at 5:00AM thinking "Okay , this has to do it!!" but it still took little miss ANOTHER half hour to finally fall asleep. Needless to say, I skipped school today! Such a slacker! BUT I did get a bit done today...cooked, cleaned, laundry and homework of course . This afternoon I brought Mya out to the pool and let her sit /stand on the top step. She really enjoyed it, she is such a water baby. It's so funny b/c I tried to get her to WALK back to the apartment but she wouldn't have it! She just gets those feet a-kicking until her bottom is right back on the ground. When is my darling THIRTEEN month old daughter going to walk? Hm, only time will tell but I guess I am content with her fast paced crawling if she is!