Banners...advertising...

The month of October I will be taking sidebar ad's for the blog!  

Here are some cool examples:

This is a GREAT way to promote your blog, etsy shop, Mary Kay business, Stella & Dot business, etc...

I have a special rate for first time advertisers.

Contact me at retrogalusa@aol.com for details!

October ads begin in just 3 days.

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For the past few months, I have been having fun creating one of a kind, unique and personalized banners for my blog.  I love switching them out for the seasons and making them personal.

I am now offering custom blog banners to any of you who are interested in one!

Contact me at retrogalusa@aol.com to get started.

Here are some examples of banners I have done for myself:

Happy Wednesday!

Tonight we have our small goups (Bible study) and there will be a chocolate fountain there.  I am so excited on many levels to be at our small group tonight...not to mention our group is pretty awesome.

Hope your week is going great. 

Don't worry, it's almost Friday!

DIY Pine Cone Garland

You will need about pinecones and some sturdy string (I used kite string!)

Wrap the string around the pine cone 3-4 times

Then secure the string to the pine cone with some good ol' hot glue

Then you hang it!!!

I love the pine cone one because I can leave it up for Christmas if I want.  Can you imagine how pretty it would be to wind lights around the string too?  

I found the pine cones in my yard and I already had the string, so this was a free project for me to do.  You know what else?  You could buy those cinnamon pine cones from the craft store and have a good smellin' garland.  

The wheels are turning over here :)

P.S. Do you like my new fall blog header???  If you are interested in having your own, send me an e-mail! retrogalusa@aol.com

Chocolate

We made fudge brownies today...

they hit the chocolate spot Caleb and I had a void for....or maybe just I had the void for....but Caleb was more than happy to help 

Pie n' beans

Two must have recipes for me today...and whether you have unreal, life altering cravings like I do right now ...or not, these recipes are delish and EASY!

  I am not a huge fan of cooking so whenever I share a recipe, you better believe it doesn't have many steps or ingredients involved.

Tomato Pie

4 tomatoes

Pre-baked deep dish pie crust

1 1/2 cups of cheddar cheese (shredded)

3/4 cup Mayonaise

1 tsp of Italian seasoning

Salt and Pepper to taste

This pie is adapted from Paula Deen's Tomato Pie recipe...although her's calls for more cheese, onions and fresh basil leaves.  I normally would love her recipe but I am nauseated right now so strong seasonings and onions are out of the question but if you like your seasonings a bit stronger, I would follow her recipe!  My recipe is great for kids and adults who aren't onion fans, or when you don't have onions and fresh basil on hand :)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Peel and slice tomatoes and lay in a single layer in a colander to let all excess juice drain from tomatoes (about 10 minutes).  

Sprinkle some salt and pepper over the tomatoes.

Layer the tomatoes in your pre-baked pie crust. 

Mix together the cheese and mayonaise and spread across the top of the tomatoes.  

Sprinkle top with Italian seasoning.

Bake for 30 minutes or until cheese is slightly browned.

I am from Virginia and near my home town there is a place called Michie Tavern.  This is where this green bean recipe originated.  My family has been bringing this dish to family reunions and holiday get together's for years and it's always a hit.  I hope it is a hit for your family too!

Michie Tavern Green Beans

2 cans of green beans (I like whole green beans)

1/2 cup vinegar

1/2 cup oil

2 tsp sugar

2 tsp garlic salt

1 1/2 tsp of ground oregano (or oregano leaves)

1 tsp pepper

Drain beans.  In a shallow dish, combine all the other ingredients.  Add the beans to the mixture and allow to marinate in fridge for at least an hour before serving.  This is a cold green bean salad and it is delicious!  My mom likes her's a lot sweeter than I do, so she adds extra sugar...I love mine nice and vinegary so I add extra vinegar and less sugar...it's all up to you.

If you try either one of these, let me know!

  I am eating both recipes while I type this and they are not only fool proof but I might just eat the entire pie and plate of green beans :)

I've been meaning to tell y'all something...

God's timing...you can't beat it...which would be the exact reason it's GOD's and not mine...

It's hard to believe that almost 7 months ago, we were facing a very difficult time in our lives (you can read our stories here and here).  My original due date would have been September 21, this Wednesday. 

I imagine, had everything gone as we had planned, that I would be waddling around the house barely able to stand the anticipation of having my sweet, new baby almost here!  

My plans were so so different than God's and with the birth of many of my friends babies this month and the constant reminder that September 21 is right around the corner, God has put an amazing peace in my heart that He knows so much better than I do.

With all of that being said, I am beyond ecstatic to share some news with you all!

WE ARE EXPECTING #2!!!

We heard the heartbeat and it's strong and there's a little boy who's pretty excited to be a big brother.

Here's our little punkin' head...this was taken about two weeks ago, little arms and legs just a kickin!

Thumbs up for a new brother or sister!!!

I couldn't ask for better blog friends to be able to share our journey with.  If you follow me on twitter, my massive amounts of food tweets will probably make perfect sense now...and I apologize for my definite lack of blog posts lately.  I've been just about to die keeping this secret for so long!

I am still in the bittersweet stage of this pregnancy. 

 Caleb and Seth have been such troopers!  

I have spent the better part of the last month or so laying in bed, watching Disney movies with Caleb and sleeping every chance I get.  Some woman are blessed to not have the "morning sickness" but I am far from one of them. 

 Just before week 6 hit, the nausea began and it's still going strong.  I wish I had "morning sickness" but mine is more like all day and night sickness.  

I'm super excited to be sick but I definitely won't be sad when my little "friend" decides to leave me alone :)

Excited to start on this journey of our lives...I think it's gonna be one wild, fun ride!

A Few of My Favorite Things- Fall Fashion Edition

Source: sparklesandpretending.tumblr.com via Paula on Pinterest

Source: None via Paula on Pinterest

Source: cupcakesandcashmere.com via Paula on Pinterest

Source: Uploaded by user via Paula on Pinterest

Source: plumo.com via Paula on Pinterest

Source: weardrobe.com via Kelley on Pinterest

Source: toryburch.com via Erin on Pinterest

Source: anthropologie.com via Kelley on Pinterest

Source: emersonmade.com via Kelley on Pinterest

Source: news.instyle.com via Kelley on Pinterest

Meet Our New Friends

Here's Gabe.  

Sensible, deep thinker, Sweet to Caleb, Mario enthusiast, professional trampoline flipper, studying Tae Kwan Do, informed me that he always has red eye in every photo, in which I told him I did too and then we both talked about having mutual blue eyes....lives 3 houses down and has a bad-boy picture pose.

Meet Addie...also known as Abbie D because Caleb doesn't know how to just say "Addie".

Red headed, energy filled, girly-girl, shares high heels, undercover spy, don't bring peanuts anywhere near her, loves smiley face potato fries, Caleb is obsessed and I mean completely obsessed with her, she makes us laugh...really hard...she also lives 3 houses down and is really good at talking her way into getting cookies.

Here is Caleb.  You already know him but this is a new side of Caleb....the one that wears Abby D's high heels.  

I think it's part of his undercover spy get-up...or at least I hope so

There you have it!

Next time I will introduce you to the power couple in charge of Gabe and Addie...they are in a league of their own!  They have us over for dinner a lot and we think they're down right awesome.

My fall wreath!

Supplies...check

Final product!

I made it "au naturale"  

Mostly from stuff out of our yard...pine cones, sticks, the usual.

I like that our last name begins with "W"...a very easy letter to conjure up from old twigs.

Caleb even got in on the action.

His craft involved taking all the glue sticks out of the bag and lining them up on the table.

He was very proud of his final product.

I also took Caleb out for a special Friday treat.  

He chose a sprinkle donut. 

We sat down to eat and he proceeded to bite and lick every last sprinkle off the top of his donut and even tried to eat the ones he had dropped on the floor.

Then he asked for more sprinkles...

See this delicious food? It's a boiled egg loaded with tons of PEPPA!!!  Seth thinks I'm crazy for eating these....especially when I eat them in the bed while we are watching TV together.  He gags and says it smells like rotten eggs....go figure...bahaha

Happy Weekend!

Ooooo I just LOVE Fridays!!!

I Love 4 days!!!

One good thing about the Army: they give amazing 4 day weekends for federal holidays!  Minus a few temper tantrums (from all 3 of us) and taking half a day to clean...we had so much fun!

Played football while we waited for the Georgia game to come on

We all matched!

Made Kool-Aid for the FIRST time...it was a hit

Snacked on these:

Caught up on some beauty sleep

Gave some sugar!

Wore high buns all weekend...well at least I did ;-)