The Waiting Game

So yesterday was the day I had been looking forward to and counting down to for the past 9 months.  And it came, and went, with no sign of a baby coming! :(

And then this morning I woke up, thinking that today is going to be the day, and I haven't even had the slightest bit of a contraction.  

But enough the the downer comments!  I thought I would share some pictures of the nursery.  I think the only things not done are putting his name over the crib (Because we haven't named him yet, we are waiting til he's born.), and I would like to put some stuffed animals or baskets up above the cabinet.  

Over all, I really liked how it turned out.  It's not too crazy and busy, but I didn't really want it to be because it is such a small room.  I think it is just nice and not too stimulating. 

Hopefully you enjoy the pictures!

Nice, Clean Laundry

The other day I received a HUGE blessing of baby boy clothes!  It was more clothes than I even knew what to do with!  The only problem was the person I got them from used very strong laundry detergent and I wasn't a huge fan of the smell.  

I washed the first load and used a little more than normal amount of laundry soap, and they still smelled.  So I washed them again using soap, and still nothing changed.  Then I went and washed them without soap to see if rinsing would work.  Guess what?... Nothing!  So I turned to handy dandy Pinterest and read some articles and decided to try using vinegar.  I was VERY skeptical because come on, who wants there new baby to wear vinegar smelling clothes?! Not me. 

But the articles did say that the reason why vinegar works is because over time, detergent and other smells build up in your fabrics and cause them to have a strong detergent smell, or even a musty smell in your towels.  

So I fill the washer again, pour in one cup of white vinegar and hope for the best.  And low and behold, I was amazed!!  The clothes came out smelling like nothing!  There was a little bit of a vinegar smell, but once I dried them, that smell was gone!  

Needless to say, not only did I wash the baby clothes like that, but I also washed two loads of towels.  My towels had just been smelling "off" lately.  But now they smell so nice and fresh!  I am in love with using vinegar in the laundry!  

On a side note, we are pretty sure we are going to be cloth diapering our baby and so I found this to be interesting.  In one of the articles I read, they said using vinegar in the rinse cycle of the diapers will take out any left over detergent that is left in the diapers.  This will cause less chance of diaper rash and less skin irritation. So just something to think about!

So try vinegar in your laundry and I hope you are as pleasantly surprised as me!

That's all for now!

Cassandra :)

My sister is getting married... Her Bachelorette Party :)

So my little sister isn't so little anymore.  :(  She got married this July.  I am so excited and happy for her and her hubby, but it is just weird to think of her as a married woman! She is still supposed to be the little girl who always tried to tag along with me and would drive me nuts, but I would love her anyways! LOL!

Today, I wanted to share with you a little bit about her Bachelorette Party.  It was a really fun night!  VERY CLEAN and VERY FUN!

We started the evening out by having snacks  and getting to know each other.  The girls invited were from two totally different groups, her work friends and church friends.  

What I want to share the most about is the food.  If you have been on Pinterest lately, you might have noticed that a popular trend is foods that don't need to put on a skewer being put on a skewer for fun and for a nice presentation.  So that was our theme.  Foods on skewer sticks. 

We made meatballs, fruit kabobs and fruit dip, veggie kabobs, pickle wraps, sandwiches, and rice krispie bars. 

The things that I made I have included recipes below:

Fruit Kabobs and Dip:

Obviously you can put whatever kind of fruit on the skewer stick.  I did watermelon, green grapes, red grapes, pineapple, honeydew melon, and cantaloupe. Who doesn't love fruit?! But when you pair it with this super simple and amazingly tasting fruit dip, fruit is taken to a whole new level!

All you need to do for the fruit dip is mix one jar of Marshmallow Cream (7 oz) and one tub of strawberry cream cheese (8 oz).  It is really sticky at first when you begin to mix, but just keep going.  It works best to let the cream cheese get kind of warm, it mixes better this way and you get less clumps. 


Pickle Wraps:

These do not need to be put on skewers, but in keeping with the them, I obviously did.  This is not a picture of mine, I use more ham than this, but it gives you an idea!

Items needed:
2 packs of square ham lunch meat
2 jars of Claussen pickles (these really are the best kind to use!)
1-2 packs of regular cream cheese 

1.  Take two pieces of ham and dry them off with a paper towel.  
2.  Spread one piece with cream cheese (fairly thin) then slightly over lap the next piece of ham and spread with cream cheese.
3.  Dry off a pickle with a paper towel and lay on the edge of the ham and roll it up.
4.  Complete three or four pickle rolls and then place the the freezer for about a half hour. They cut much easier this way!
5.  Continue making more wraps and place in freezer. 
6.  Cut the rolls into 1/2 inch slices. 

These are really easy to do, just a little time consuming with the freezer time.

Rice Krispies:  

Make a pan of Rice Krispies as directed on the box.

Once they have set, cut them into 2 by 2 inch squares. 



Place each square upright on a skewer.  I used a half of a skewer. 

Melt chocolate in the microwave.  Used a little more than a bag of chocolate chips. Dip the end of the rice krispie bar in the chocolate and put on a piece of wax paper.



Once you have the bar on the wax paper, tilt it a little big sideways in all directions and shake on sprinkles. Let dry.



We also played some games, hung out and just had a fun time hanging out with the bride to be! :)