Gender Reveal Party

One of the most exciting points on the timeline of pregnancy is finding out the gender of the baby! I know some people would rather wait and be surprised about the gender when they actually give birth, but my personality as a planner just won't allow me to wait. It's still a surprise to me when I do find out, and a gender reveal party makes it that much more fun!

Choo Choo's or TuTu's? 

With our first child, we found out the gender in the ultrasound room, then had a party to tell everyone else, but we found that this time, we wanted to get in on the fun as well. After looking at Pinterest, and finding the perfect way to reveal baby's gender this time, my husband and I decided to find out with everyone at the party instead of inside the ultrasound room.

On Thursday, October 10, we had our appointment and go to see little punkin' on the screen, but we had the ultrasound tech seal up the gender for us. I delivered the gender to a friend and had her prepare our reveal method.

I've seen cakes, balloons, cupcakes, and all kinds of cute ideas, but when I came across the silly string idea on Pinterest, I could not choose a better way to reveal.

We had my friend wrap the correct color of silly string (pink or blue) in paper and remove the lids. She wrapped the cans in a box and we waited until it was time to open the package.

For the party, we invited our family over to celebrate with us, and each member of the family got their own can of silly string. We proceeded to our back yard where the family encircled the three of us, and on count, everyone covered us in silly string at the same time.

It took a moment to realize that this crazy stuff flying at us was PINK! IT'S A GIRL! We were sooooooo excited (except for O, the silly string scared him a little)! It was so much fun to wait and find out with everyone else.

My sister-in-law asked me if it was better and worth the wait to find out with the family instead of the ultrasound room - My answer - YES! Sure, in the middle of a crowd of family squirting silly string at you, it is difficult to have an intimate moment of celebration with your husband, but you don't really get that with the tech in the room at the doctor either.

Well, that's that. Little girl is set to arrive March 5 (or earlier!) and we cannot wait to meet her!

High Five for Friday!

This week is one of the few that I have actually at home this summer, so it has been sorta crazy-hectic around here. Trying to get so much done in so short a span of time can be exhausting! But here are some highlights from the week:

1. Love this $.97 nail polish from Target - didn't chip until day 5! I did have trouble with another color in the same brand though. But this color is awesome! 

2. Roxy's Deli on Times Square - not impressed - lots of meat but dull flavor. 

3. Dad built the frame for my small raised garden (plants to follow soon). 

4. Little man has a throat virus that has taken some extra care and time the past few days (poor thing)!

5. My little bro graduates from high school tonight! I'm so proud of him!

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High Five for Friday

This week... Yeah it's been a doozy! But I try to remember it's a blessing to be busy!

1. We concluded Ladies Morning Edition Bible study and our teen Bible study this Monday. The teens celebrated at IHOP for dinner! Love these ladies!

2. Saved some major dough with Harris Teeter triple coupons this past week. I aid a total of $28 for $130 worth of groceries! Yay for saving $$$$$!


3. Little man had a double ear infection this week... Poor thing! But he is feeling better now!

4. Target.com has a $2 Essie coupon! Woot woot! I haven't decided on a color yet though...

5. My Faithful Friend ( secret sis) gave me this wonderful array of coffee for my keurig! Made my day Thursday!

Happy Friday everyone!

High Five For Friday!

Hey, hey! It's Friday (night by this time) haha and I am headed to an all-night lock in with our teens! I must be losing my mind, right? It should be a blast though! This week has been fun and busy!

1. Tuesday night we went to see the Canes play...and they won in a shootout! Definitely exciting, and hockey is so much better from a suite's perspective!

2. This week was Administrative Professionals Week, so our bosses treated us to lunch and prizes! Love these people!

3. I played the role of teacher on Thursday!
4. My husband allowed me some much needed time alone in which I indulged in some Target Therapy! My husband's words, "How can you walk around Target for two hours and enjoy it?" Haha...just my thing!
5. Today I was catering with Stephen's Catering...the best chef I know! StephensCatering

Have a great weekend everyone!

High Five For Friday

Happy Friday, People! For some reason, this week has gone by slowly. I dunno, I've been busy, but I keep thinking it's Saturday for some odd reason. Well, sorry I've been absent from the blogosphere this week. I have been slammed with work and projects that demand my time and take priority. At least I'm blessed to be busy! Well, here are a few fun things that happened this week.

1. We had a family date night on Tuesday which included some shopping for Phil, a free meal at Shane's Rib Shack (thank you Entertainment book), Coldstone, and some perusing around Toys-R-Us (which led to little man finding his dream car).

2. Grandma Ammons Update. She is slowly getting better! On Monday, her numbers had returned to where they were when she was admitted, but since have been coming down. She wanted to check her facebook yesterday :) So it appears she is feeling better too! PTL!

3. Closet Switch. I accomplished my closet switch-out in about an hour today - That's record time! (Boring fact, sorry people, I'm scraping here!)

4. Mommy/Son Date - Owen I spent some time at Pullen Park and then indulged ourselves in some Krispy Kreme! 

5. Hubby comes home. Phil has been gone since Wednesday night and I am sooooooo ready for him to come home Today! Yay! Should be a great weekend!

Happy Friday Everyone!

High Five For Friday

Happy Friday, everyone! I hope that you have had an awesome week! Looks like a pretty stormy morning around here, but hopefully some sunshine this afternoon (in time to grill some burgers I hope). Well, here's what happened with me this week...

1) My baby rode in a helicopter!

Needless to say, I was definitely nervous, but he wasn't! He enjoyed flying high in the sky for about 3 minutes! He rode the "copter" as he would say. 

2) I started a detox water experiment. 

Found this on pinterest and decided to try it out. We'll see what happens. It actually doesn't taste bad at all - reminds me especially of Lipton's green tea. 

3) Pray for Grandma Ammons.

My husband's grandma was admitted to the hospital on Monday. She has CO2 poisoning in her body right now, along with other complications,  and they aren't able to bring her levels down. She is in critical condition, and our family would greatly appreciate your prayers for her. 

4) I got the yard ready for spring! 

I love spring time, and nothing says spring like weeding - the only part about spring that I hate! But after the hard work was done, I planted a few flowers and potted some by the door. 

5) National Sibling Day. 

I love my siblings! Here are a few photos from times past that I dug out of the archives! Good times! 

High Five for Friday

This week has flown by! Wow! But it has definitely been a good week.

1. Formal with the Hubby. Last Friday night my husband and I attended our church school's annual JR/SR banquet. My brother is a senior this year...sniff sniff :( but it was a fun night, and I love to get dressed up every now and then!

2. Easter Sunday was a fantastic day at our church! Here's a link to watch the dramatic musical that we put on! Praise the Lord for those that were saved! Easter Drama 

3. Easter Outfits. We went with navy, gray, and yellow...bowtie is my favorite!

4. Kitchen Clean-Out. I pulled everything out of my kitchen cabinets yesterday, cleaned my oven, cleaned behind my oven and fridge, and reorganized! Feeling pretty good about my kitchen. And yes, I got a sitter to watch little man. No way I get this done with his walking around in it! 

5. Dried strawberries. I'm trying some DIY dried strawberries today! My house smells amazing! I'll let you know how this pinterest experiment goes. 

Happy Friday! Have a great weekend! 

High Five for Friday

Well, this week has been rather busy! Lots to do and get done, but overall, it was successful!

1. Bible Study. 

I'm currently involved in two Bible studies on Monday. One with our ladies' ministry at church and one that I lead our 11th and 12th grade girls in at my home. Both studies are teaching me new things about God's Word. I'm particularly enjoying studying the book of 1 Peter on Monday mornings and looking at how to live life with a gentle and quiet spirit. Accompanying our study of 1 Peter, we are reading from Elizabeth George's Putting on a Gentle and Quiet Spirit. It truly has been a challenge for me - in a great way of course! 

2. Hubby Speaking. 

On Tuesday night, my husband spoke at Faith Christian Academy's PTF night on "Parenting Media-Saturated Children." His presentation is amazing (He's done it at our church for our teen parents as well), and I am so proud of him! A plus to this speaking engagement, we got to see and eat dinner with my sis-in-law and bro-in-law! They just moved from TN to where they are now - about 45 min from us! This means we get to see them much more frequently! 

3. Free Coffee!!!!

So, I have this app called CouponSherpa - you should download it! It's filled with all kinds of restaurant and retail coupons - no clipping required. On this app, Starbucks is giving away a free hazelnut or caramel macchiato! I've used the coupon several times this week for my free coffee! Yay! Free coffee always makes the day better!

4. Cake Pops. 

I spent my entire day and night on Wednesday filling a cake pop order for 10 dozen Easter pops! Easter is always my largest selling holiday for these things. Here's a look at the bunnies. They are so cute (of course I drew mouths on them later..hehe)! I'm also terrible at remembering to take pics of everything, but in addition to the bunnies, I made chicks and eggs too. Adorable and delicious!

5. Haircut.

I'm having major hair woes right now. I love my bob, but I want my hair to be long again! I also understand that in order for it to be long again, I'm gonna have to grow it out. I know I will have to trim it as it grows, but I just can't decide what I want to do. However, my hair was in dire need of a trim (it had been 10 weeks) so I got it cut again. Starting over with the lengthening process (unless I just get extensions :) ).

Happy Friday Everyone! Don't forget to celebrate Easter by being at your local church to worship this Sunday!

High Five for Friday!

I'm starting something new! Yes, I have my regular "Tuesday Tune-Up" post, but I've decided to occasionally add "High Five for Friday" and link up with some pretty cool bloggers that do the same. My first "High Five" experience came through reading after Kate. To be honest, I loved this idea! With my limited blogging knowledge, I thought this was original with her and wouldn't dare plagiarize such a catchy recurring post.

Of course, I later found out that Lauren hosts a HFFF link party every week! Hello! That's when I pondered joining up! Now, I'm taking the plunge. Don't expect a HFFF every single week (kinda like I take a break from TT every now and then), but they will come often! I'm excited about it.

This week was very busy, and full of new things for me. Small things that just make life exciting.

1) I learned to crochet. I love to learn new things and this week I did! One of the teens in our youth group has a red infinity crocheted scarf. I loved it the first time I saw it and immediately wanted to replicate it. I already know how to knit, but knitting just wouldn't give it quite the right look. Determined to make the scarf myself, I went to Michael's, purchased a skein of yarn, a basic crochet needle, and then watched several informative youtube videos to learn how to crochet. The result? Well, I made this scarf two and a half times. Finally, I got it the way I wanted it (though I'll admit it was a tad bit long). Voila! Here it is! Aren't you proud? Just don't look too closely...there are many missed stitches. But, Hey! it's my first crocheted project, so I'm proud of it!

2) I tried a new lipstick. Revlon's Tutti Frutti lip butter! Coral is definitely in, I just wasn't sure how it would look on my lips. Really, I'm not a lipstick person, but this lip butter is super moist and the color - I like it!

3) I reached my pre-pregnancy weight! This is was completely thrilled about! I had those leftover pounds hanging around until I joined a gym in January. Since I've been working out, I've dropped 7 lbs! This week I hit that pre-prego weight, but my goal is to loose a couple more pounds. 

4) I also started a new session of Bible study with my junior and senior high teen girls. We met for 8 weeks in the fall and just started a new 8 week session for the spring. We are studying Lies Young Women Believe, and the study has gotten off to a great start! I'm praying for the Lord to use His Word to speak to our hearts and replace lies with the truth!

5) I had the opportunity to substitute teach this week. Subbing is fun, but I'm definitely nowhere near ready to go back to teaching full time. (Yep! I was a full-time middle/high school English teacher before little man). 

 Well, that's my week at a glance! High Five For Friday everyone!

Fair Favorites

Mmmmm....the smell of meat on the grill, dough being fried, the sight of thousands of people coming and going, the bells and whistles of games, the twinkling of thousands of lights on the Ferris Wheel....Yep! You guessed it! It's fair time in Raleigh!

Our NC State Fair is here this week, and I wanted to share some of my favorites with you! If you live in the area, don't miss out on the fun...and of course the FOOD! (Which happens to pop up in my favorites more than anything else!)

1. Yes, this is why I go to the fair...

This is the best spot to get your deep fried sweets! It's located across from the long building that hosts all of the church food booths - Visit this place! 

My personal favorite....the deep-fried cookie dough! AMAZING is all I have to say! 

It's a mouthful of ooey gooey yumminess!

Another favorite...Deep-fried oreos! These things are rich, but soooo good!

The deep-fried Snickers is pretty good too (my husband's fav). 

2. Hot Wisconsin Cheese

I apologize, I don't have a pic of this booth, but if you like cheese, this is a MUST! My favorite is the Jalapeno cheese sticks with the jalapeno ranch sauce! Yes, it is that good!

This stand is located near the entrance to the main midway. 

3. Roasted Corn

Roasted Corn-on-the-Cob is definitely something I am going to get every year! However, one year I tried it from a different vendor and was highly disappointed. Roasted corn is a must-have, just make sure you have it from the right place. 

I recommend this vendor. They are located across from the Hobbies and Crafts building as you enter Gate 8. They have received rave reviews from the local media, and I give them two thumbs up as well!

4. The Pig Races

A Free, Fun activity the whole family will certainly enjoy! Who doesn't like to watch those little piggies, ducks, and goats run around the track to win the coveted cheese puffs awaiting them? 

Haha! Seriously though, the man that runs the show does a great job of getting the crowd involved and even including them in the festivities. 

I do recommend that you arrive at least 15 minutes prior to showtime to insure you get a seat. 

The races are located beside the petting zoo near Gate 9.

5. Butcher Boys

I cannot believe that I never tried these guys until last year! Their London Broil steak sandwich is delicious! It's sliced right in front of you and it definitely beats that nasty "chopped" steak that sits in a tub of grease all day. 

I add onions, peppers, mushrooms, cheese, and bbq sauce to mine (the sauce is on the side and you have to put on yourself - don't miss it or your sandwich may be a little dry). It is quite satisfying to the taste buds. 

Looks amazing right? You can also refill any cup for $1 here. We keep our cup from Butcher Boys and take it back every year. They have a few locations, but this one is on what I call the "food midway."

6. The Exhibits

You can bet our family is always going to go through the Exhibit Hall, the Exhibition Center, and the Kerr Scott Building. There are many neat things to see such as the largest pumpkin, watermelon, etc. You can milk a cow and view the best of show in livestock. See the artwork or check out some vendors in the Kerr Scott Building. 

7. The Best Fudge Ever...

This favorite of mine is located inside the Hobbies and Crafts building. They are always giving away free samples of their chocolate fudge, and I would be lying if I told you that I've never left with a box of it for myself! 

You'll find many fudge vendors at the fair, but this one takes the cake! (or should I say the fudge?)

8. Frozen-Dipped Cheesecake

A classic, the frozen dipped-cheesecake is sure to please the cheesecake lover's heart (that would be me). This location has the best that I have tried, and if you are feeling brave, try the deep-fried cheesecake from this vendor. No, I haven't tried it for myself, but I have heard wonderful things about it. 

You can also find the infamous Krispy Kreme Burger here :)

9. Pickles!

So, this is more of a tradition favorite than an eating favorite, although we do by a fifty-cent Kosher Dill while we are here. The Mount Olive booth located inside the Exhibit Hall has a jar full of pickles, and your job is to guess how many are inside. They pick a winner every day! 

After years of participating, my brother-in-law brought home the prize a few years ago - a gift basket full of Mt. Olive products and the pride of winning of course!

10. Candy Apples and Cotton Candy

I'm one of those "weird" people who does NOT like candy apples. I do love the caramel ones and the cotton candy though! This vendor sells plain red candy apples and plain caramel apples for only 1.50 each - The best price I could find. And here they are normally very fresh and just right. 

You can find these guys on your way in or out of Gate 8 past the Hobbies and Crafts building (actually they are very close to the roasted corn and the pony rides). 

The Fair - Such a fun tradition in October. There are a few  other things that didn't make the list because I didn't have a pic or I didn't try them: Deep Fried Mushrooms (my favorite food next to the cookie dough), Pumpkin funnel cake (sounds good), Jesse James footlongs (booth by the Exhibition Center), and of course, riding the Ferris Wheel!

I hope that you get the chance to go to the NC State Fair this year! Let me know what some of your favorites are!