what i wore wednesday

 
All I’m reaching for these days are button-downs. In the past, I’ve strayed away from button-downs because oftentimes they’re not as feminine as other shirts. But when you’ve got a baby crying to eat every three hours, you want as easy and quick access as possible. So I am wearing cardigans and plaid shirts ALL the time. And obviously this bright pink plaid is completely feminine. It’s on heavy rotation this spring :)
 


Plaid Shirt: Mossimo at Target
Nursing Cami: Gilligan O’Malley at Target
(I was able to score 4 of them for $40 (half price)—watch for their online deals!
Jeans: American Eagle
Sandals: Crocs Sexi Flip
Earrings: One Little Belt
 

Linking up with Lindsey for WIWW, Alison, and Shanna.

Find me on Instagram: I’m @floralandfudge

Easter Peeps S'mores + free printable

 

If you've been reading this blog for long, you know I have a thing for s'mores. I've made these s'mores kits a few times, and I think they are the cutest idea! You can make them to pass out to friends and family this Easter!

To make these s'mores kits: Put a halved graham cracker, a mini Hershey bar, and a bunny Peep inside a plastic bag. Then print the image on cardstock, fold it in half, and staple it to the top of the bag.

 

 To eat the s'more, just pop the Peep in the microwave for 10 seconds until it's warm, and place it in between the graham crackers with the chocolate bar.  :)

Right click image below and save to your computer:
(I printed them as 4" by 4")

 

To print four on a page, right-click and save the image below:

 

Enjoy!!

life lately

  This weekend, we spent a lot of time trying to spruce up this old house for spring. We peeled away some old curtains and plastic window covers to let in warm rays of sunshine. The furniture in our play room was rearranged, making better use of the space we have. I worked on Easter decor for the mantel while Steve did some electrical work. My chores are difficult since I am always holding a baby, but I somehow managed five loads of laundry and some light cleaning and organizing.

Ephraim and I attended a “Thirty-One Gifts”party on Friday. It was my first time being out past ten in forever, and it was a lot of fun to buy new bags and eat delicious tiramisu with friends. :)

Nolan thoroughly enjoyed a game night at church on Saturday. He ran around like a wild man, stuffed his mouth with grapes and strawberries, laughed at the big kids, played Play-Doh, and tossed around a ping-pong ball with his dad. His energy level is something else!

Last Tuesday, I took Ephraim to his 2-month doctor’s appointment. I figured that he was about 10 or 10.5 pounds like Nolan was at this point, but I was taken aback when he weighed in at over 12 pounds! That’s a gain of 5 pounds since birth! I am so happy that he’s getting enough to eat, and that he’s very content.

I am exhausted at the end of every day, but it’s a good tired knowing that I am giving my all to the three guys whom I love so immensely.

Hope your weekend was relaxing!!

cadbury creme egg cupcakes

I was at Walmart a couple days ago in the Easter candy aisle, and I ended up with a lot of Cadbury in my cart: Cadbury Creme Eggs, Cadbury Mini Creme Eggs, Cadbury Mini Eggs (I restocked after last week’s Mini Egg Blondies), and a large Cadbury bunny. I just think Cadbury makes good chocolate ;)

I chose to use the Mini Creme Eggs to make cupcakes that I saw here.
I just ate one this afternoon, and let me tell you, it was probably the best cupcake I’ve ever had. There is a Mini Creme Egg on top of the vanilla buttercream frosting, and a Mini Creme Egg melted on the inside!

Ingredients:

1 chocolate cake mix (I love Betty Crocker’s Super Moist Chocolate Fudge)
Eggs, Oil, and Water as the box calls for
24 cupcake liners
48 Cadbury Mini Creme Eggs (24 of them frozen so that they don’t disappear in the batter when baked)

For the buttercream frosting:
1 stick butter, softened
4 cups powdered sugar
3-4 splashes of milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Yellow dye
Bags for piping (I just use Ziploc bags with their ends cut off)

Note: you could buy a can of store-bought vanilla frosting, but I don’t know how easy it would be to pipe onto the cupcake.

 
Directions:

Fill the cupcake liners 2/3 of the way full with batter. Place the egg in the center of the batter, and spread a little bit of batter over the egg.

Bake the cupcakes according to the box’s directions. Let them cool completely.

With an electric mixer, combine the butter, powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla until the frosting is the right consistency. Add more milk if it’s too thick, or more sugar if it’s too thin. Separate one cup of the frosting, and dye it yellow.

Frost the cupcakes—piping a circle of white around the outside, and a dollop of yellow frosting in the center. Place a creme egg in the center of the yellow.



Eat, enjoy, and share with friends!

the marriage challenge

Steve and I found “The Marriage Challenge” through blogland, and we decided to participate two weeks ago. We haven’t quite made it through all 10 questions yet, but we have really had a blast spending time in conversation and learning some new little bits about each other. If you’re married, give it a try with your spouse!

Here it is:

Assignment: Spend an hour or so going over your nightly "Top 10".  No matter how much you think you know about each other, this process is enlightening/shocking/humbling all in one.  The way to go about this is to set a time (which could be "after the kids go to bed") and discuss your answers for an hour or so.  You can either write your answers down right before you meet or throughout the day.  But they have to be written down before the scheduled time. 

Day 1- What are your Top 10 favorite characteristics about one another? Why? (wife writes 10 for her husband. And the husband will write 10 for his wife)

Day 2- What are your Top 10 favorite characteristics about yourself? Why? (Wife writes about herself. Husband writes about himself)

Day 3- Where are 10 places you have never been to but would love to go? Why? (again, these are individual lists.  You each write your own)

Day 4- What are 10 of your biggest pet peeves? Why? (in general, not necessarily with one another)

Day 5- What are your 10 things you hope your kids learn from you? Why?

Day 6- If you won $100k tomorrow... what 10 things would you buy yourself? Why? (you cannot save it or spend it on anyone else. You MUST spend it all on yourself)

Day 7- What are 10 things that you would like to improve on personally? Why?

Day 8-  If you could invite 10 people to dinner, alive or dead, who would they be? Why?

Day 9- What are 10 things that your spouse can do for you, or does for you, that you really value/appreciate? 

Day 10- ***Do this one over a date-night dinner***  What 10 things do y'all want to accomplish in the next year? Do this list together and once you are done talking about it and putting the list together, put it in an envelope and store it.  Then make a point to open it in a year!

 

My favorite question to answer (and hear Steve’s answer) was #3—ten places you would love to go that you’ve never been. Even though we’ve talked about ideal destinations before, we’ve never listed them out this way. I love dreaming about going to these places with Steve someday. I’ll share what we put down:

Steve: (in no particular order)
1. London
2. NASA
3. Smithsonian museums
4. Hobbiton, New Zealand
5. Jerusalem
6. Colorado Rockies & Grand Canyon
7. Norm Abram’s New Yankee Workshop
8. the Vatican
9. Normandy Beach, France
10. Disney World

Rachel: (in no particular order)
1. California
2. the Carribbean
3. Italy
4. Sweden
5. Texas
6. Alaska
7. Hawaii
8. South Dakota
9. Spain
10. Denmark

I loved how much more specific Steve’s list was than mine!

I wished I could have a top 10 list for places in the U.S. AND a top 10 list for the world. :)

After discussing our answers, we also decided that we would love to become history buffs and visit as many historical sites and presidents’ homes as possible :)

(us in Gettysburg in 2010)

If you decide to do this, I would love to hear how it goes for you!
Comment or shoot me an e-mail, racheljulia31{at}gmail{dot}com

what i wore + april pin-spired

Now that it’s spring, and we’re starting to peel off some of the layers of winter clothing, I’m really going to challenge myself to get dressed every day. I feel so much happier and more productive when I am wearing jeans as opposed to pajama pants, my contacts, a few swipes of makeup, and brushed hair. Even if Steve is the only one who sees me most days, I still want to look like the girl he married when he comes home from work :) I suppose he’s not the only guy who notices what I wear. When I get dressed, Nolan will often smile and say,“Utterful Mommy, so utterful!” (Which in his sweet 2-year-old language means beautiful.) :)

This spring, I’m leaning toward light neutrals and beautiful pastel colors. And even though I’ve been a silver jewelry girl forever, my eyes are very attracted to gold right now. This mint and white outfit was a lot of fun to put together, and I can’t wait to wear it again!

  
Top: Merona at Target, in “Fresh White”
Jeans: a.n.a. at JCPenney
Sandals: Yuu
Necklace: Lia Sophia

Linking up with Mel, Shay, and Sheaffer for April Pin-spired!

And the image from Pinterest that inspired my outfit:


This ensemble would look amazing with the colors reversed as well
(mint top, white jeans!)

Did you catch my other outfits this month?     one     //     two     //     three     //     four

Find me on Instagram: I’m @floralandfudge  :)

I’m also linking up with Lindsey for “What I Wore Wednesday”, Alison for “I Feel Pretty”, and Shanna for “Random Wednesday”.

Have a wonderful day!!

in honor of baseball season

We had a little photo shoot with the boys wearing matching outfits for the first time :)


Nolan checking out “Ee-fwum”s thinning head of hair.
 
Noticing that Ephraim is wearing the same shirt as him.

So excited to be twinning! 


Check out those cute printed sunglasses :)


Got a sweet little smirk from the baby.
 
Thanks Aunt Yvonne for sending these adorable outfits from Minnesota!!
 
Happy baseball season!
Go Cubbies!! (and Bucs for their father)