Halloween Bash!!

Evie is throwing a Halloween Bash for all of her friends - if you didn't get an invite but want to come - stop on by October 30th at 3:00pm.  I love Halloween- I love the decorations, Garfield's Halloween Special, the candy, and anything associated with the holiday except for dressing up.  I love seeing all the adorable children costumes and I enjoy adults that relish in becoming a new character for a day but I do not like dressing up - I can never figure out what to be and then it never looks the way I want it to.  Luckily this party will satisfy my desire to celebrate Halloween but will also allow me to go as myself, which is the best costume of all - MOM! 

So this spooktacular event will have a couple of trick or treating stations where the children can knock on a door and receive a treat (so far I have goody bags that will include a toothbrush and an apple, Halloween books and Marissa will be providing plush monsters).  There will also be cider, cupcakes and yummy snacks.  I think Evie will be dressing up as a little fairy - I have a purple too too and wings for her, which will cost me nothing and  will look absolutely adorable!!! 
On another note, my lovely child just climbed up her high chair so she could eat her leftovers from snack time and got stuck - OMG- she is going to give me a heart attack one of these days:)

Jam

Evie and I just made an amazing batch of Caramel Apple Jam - yummy!!

http://www.patchworktimes.com/2009/09/02/caramel-apple-jam/

Cupcakes

Since becoming unemployed I have tried to find productive ways to spend my days - one of the recent things I have found to be extremely fun is cooking/baking.  I wanted to share some very fun, delicious cupcake recipes I have recently made:

Evie's first B-day cupcake- http://patentandthepantry.wordpress.com/2010/02/11/applesauce-spice-cupcakes/

Aunt Sharon's rehersal dinner cupcakes- http://www.fun-tea-party-ideas.com/black-forest-cupcakes.html
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/red-velvet-cupcakes-3/detail.aspx
http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Special-Mocha-Cupcakes
http://joylicious.net/2011/06/27/strawberry-cheesecake-cupcakes-2/ (these were my favorites)

Jams and butters- http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Pineapple-Kiwi-Jam/Detail.aspx
http://www.pickyourown.org/cherrybutter.php
http://www.agway.com/know_how/lawn_and_garden/canning/black_cherry_espresso_jam_recipe.html
http://www.patchworktimes.com/2009/09/02/caramel-apple-jam/
I have also made regular applesauce, peach butter, apple butter, strawberry jam, blueberry jam, microwave pickles and homemade yogurt!  I have been very productive this summer and as Brian says "We are all ready for the Zompocalpse", which is a combination of his Zombie nightmares and my obsession over the 2012 apocalpse:)

Weekend Wedding Fun (2nd wedding)

On Friday morning, Evie, Brian and I jumped into the Mazda and drove 4.5 hours to new Hampshire to witness my Step-cousin getting married!  I was dreading the ride with Eviekins - that is a long time being stuck in a car seat with nothing fun to do but I have to say - it was awesome.  We left at 9am and Evie promptly fell asleep- we made our first stop at 11 for lunch and bathroom break and Evie had fun eating someplace new, running around the rest stop like a crazy lady and greeting every new person she met.  We headed back out and made it to New Hampshire by 1:30 with no more stops and with Evie sleeping most of the way.  We relaxed for a little bit at the hotel, got ready and jumped back in the car to make it to the wedding - Evie chocked on a fishy cracker as we pulled out of the parking lot, threw up all over her new dress so there was a panicked trip back into the hotel to grab the other dress that Mommy had enough good sense to grab as we left that morning - a lot of wipes used to clean up the mess and then a rushed trip to the wedding venue.  The ceremony was beautiful, short and sweet, but Evie and Brian missed it cause she didn't want to sit still anymore (can you blame her at this point!)  but she was part of the ceremony - Everyone could hear her saying "WEEEE" as Brian pusher her around outside - it was pretty darn cute:)  Evie then had a blast at the reception - running around, greeting everyone once again and dancing up a storm - by the end of the night Brian and I were exhausted from chasing her all over the place.  We went back to the hotel, got into bed (we let Evie share our King size bed, which was a new experience because she always sleeps in her crib at home) I couldn't sleep because of the noise and because Evie is a little wiggle worm when she is a sleep, and once I did fall asleep, we were all rudely awoken by the fire alarm at 2:30 in the morning.  Some idiot - who attended the wedding- decided to pull a fire alarm and we had to evacuate the hotel, stand outside in the rain for 30 minutes and then had to deal with putting Evie back to sleep again.  Needless to say, we drove home the next day with no sleep but Evie was once again amazing on the trip home so I really can't complain.  Even though it was a very eventful/stressful weekend - it was also amazing to witness yet another wedding and it was wonderful to be reunited with family I haven't seen in 20 years!!  I am sad to say I forgot the camera so I won't be able to share cute pictures of this trip.

End of Summer cold!!

Poor little Evie has suffered through a week of being sick, runny nose, no sleep, and lots of grumpy moments.  Even though she was feeling pretty crappy she still had so many adorable moments - when she learned to say uh-oh spagehittios!  or when her first pair of new sneakers arrived and she was so excited to put them on and then amazed that they light up when she walks!!  We also bought the little monster her own leapfrog laptop - every time I attempt to use our computer she is always trying to type with me so now she can sit with me and use her own:)  Overall we had a quiet weekend and enjoyed lots of cuddling!  On a different note: We had our first Wildtree tasting party and it went fantastic!!  I can't tell you how delicious the food is and how much fun it is to share with family and friends.  We are also doing a special - if you host a party, I will donate 2 newborn beanies to a local hospital and Stacy offers a $40.00 facial out of her home, which is a huge discount!  On top of all that, you receive host rewards from Wildtree -for ex. if you have a $500.00 party - you get 100.00 free items along with some half priced items.  The product is priced so well that you could end up with a pantry full of food just for having a fun night with your friends and family!  I am very excited about this venture, especially since it has been so hard for me to find a new job in this terrible economy and I can now sell healthy food, at a reasonable price instead of something no-one needs.  Visit our website if you are interested in more information- http://www.mywildtree.com/StacyFanesia/

Aunt Sharon's Wedding

On September 10th, 2011 Evie, Brian and I attended Aunt Sharon's wedding, which was held in the same location as our wedding three years prior!!  It was a lovely day - beautiful weather, awesome atmosphere and amazing family & friends.  We all had a blast - Evie enjoyed dressing up and spending most of her time with Jillian and Erin (Brian's younger cousins).  Brian and I enjoyed dancing, drinking way tooo much, and having fun with our family.  We are excited that the next big event up at the farm will probably be Samantha and Mike building their new home and then in a couple of years Brian and I will place a home where we exchanged our vows!!! 

Update

So, it has been awhile since I have updated my blog. There are many reasons as to why I haven't written - mostly because I am lazy and also because I don't have a lot of time! Evie has decided that every time I am on the computer she wants to help, which doesn't work for me and usually causes a lot of frustration on both mine and Brian's part.

It feels as if our lives are on a roller coaster ride lately. Brian started his new job but has to continue working at his old job until they move to Florida - confusing and busy. He has also been helping out at his Mom's house- attempting to get ready for Aunt Sharon's wedding this weekend:) We are trying to get the house ready for winter because summer has decided to whisk to quickly through our lives.

I have been busy applying for jobs (with no success), making my adorable baby hats, and starting up a new business adventure (check out our website www.mywildtree.com/stacyfanesia ). But most importantly I have been busy raising our child. I have realized that when people ask me what I do for a living I answer "nothing right now", which is so not true- I have the most important job there is - guiding and teaching Evie, raising her to become a happy, well-balanced adult. I never thought that would be my career - I thought I would be an executive in a fortune 5oo business or teaching English to highschoolers or helping abused women (yes, I had a range of dream jobs). Instead, I am a mother first and my career will always come second- this was a hard change to deal with but one I absolutely love!!

Now for the person you really want to hear about - EVIE!! She has grown into a toddle overnight and has loved all the changes. She is standing and walking on her own now - what a huge achievement. She gets so excited when she finally works up the courage to let go of the furniture and walk across the room - she actually gets too excited sometimes and forgets what she is supposed to be doing. I am def more tired from chasing her all over the place but luckily we have baby proofed the downstairs of our house very well so she can only get into the Tupperware cabinet and the drawers containing our dvds. Evie is also talking up a storm- she has learned to say Hi, Bye, Kitty, Whats that or Whats this, pretty bird, oh shit, woof, and many other adorable antics. She is such a happy baby - she laughs and smiles easily, goes with me every where, likes almost all people (she tends to get frightened by loud men) and just loves life. She is adventurous - loves to climb on everything even though it wasn't meant to be, tries new food (the slug she ate the other day was a little too adventurous for me) and exploring any new area. I love to watch her play, dance and read her books. She is just amazing!!!