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Crack Dip

Everyone has a go to dish when it comes to a party or a potluck. I am usually told what to bring since it is so addictive and people just gather around it and eat until they can't eat no more. My go to dish is taco dip which I believe it was either my friend Sarah Waggoner or Shannon Kail that renamed it "Crack Dip" because it is so addicting.

Here is the recipe for "Crack Dip"

1 8oz package cream cheese
1 packet taco seasoning
1 can refried beans
1 jar salsa
1 8oz package of shredded mexican cheese
1 small cans of black olives (optional)
Jalapeños (optional)
1 small container of sour cream
1 tomato chopped or 1 can of diced tomatoes drained.
1-2 bags of tortilla chips

In a bowl mix the cream cheese with the taco seasoning until well blended and spread onto a large platter. Next put the refried beans in a bowl and stir them around until they are creamy and put on top of cream cheese. Next add a layer of salsa, a layer of sour cream, shredded cheese, tomatoes, black olives and jalapeños.

Stand back and watch it be devoured

Yard sales etc

I love yard sales. Okay I love yard sales, garage sales, auctions, estate sales and thrift shopping. Recently there was a yard sale down the street from my house. I saw a big tote that said Bratz Dolls 10.00 entire tote. This thing was packed with stuff so i couldnt pass it up. I have been selling stuff on ebay and had some other bratz that i had found and sold. I took it home and it took awhile to sort it all. It had Bratz, Moxie Dolls, a couple Barbies and Liv Dolls. Might i add that Liv dolls are creepy with those eyes. There were also a ton of clothes and accessories too. So i listed everything over the past couple weeks and have managed to make 150.00 off that 10.00 purchase. Unfortunately any money i make on ebay just funds my ebay spending.  I love searching for things that i can sell. It does help supplement my income since i am not working and being a stay at home mom with Londen.

Labor Day Weekend

Labor Day has come and gone once again. Luckily, Jeff had a four day weekend so we were able to do a lot. Friday we had a yard sale and the traffic wasn't too good. We only made about 40.00 this time. I thought with the Blueberry Festival going on it would be busier. I found out towards the end of my sale that if you put a sign on the main road during the festival they will remove it. Jerks..  I was told by our neighbor that our street is very busy during this weekend but it really wasn't. I have decided next year I will have mine on a Monday. I had more people walk past my house that day than any other day. After we finished the sale we had to take Londen to the doctor for a followup appointment. We then drove to Culver and went to the Evil Czech Brewery. Really good food and delicious beer.

We watched some horror movies and
Kyle came over on Friday night to spend the weekend here and hang out with Jeff.
Saturday we went to a bunch of yard sales. I didn't find much but Kyle did buy Londen a Cozy Coupe. She is still too young for it but it was 15.00 and not sun faded like they usually are. After that we came home and got Londen fed and walked over to the Blueberry Festival. I have went almost every year but this was the first time going now that we live in Plymouth. We are only a couple blocks away so we can just walk right over and not have to deal with the traffic and parking. I have staples that I always have to get at any festival. First off those delicious sirloin tips and potatoes. I swear they put crack on the tips. Jeff tried them for the first time and loved them. Next I had to get a frozen chocolate banana. We walked around for a bit and looked at craft booths and took in the smells and sights of the festival.
We went home for a couple hours then headed back for dinner time. Next up a polish sausage sandwich and an Apple Dumpling for dessert. All of my better eating I have done for the past week is out the window this weekend. I am afraid to step on the scale. We walked around some more then went home and hung out put Londen to bed and played some Tetris and Dr.Mario while Kyle got baked and passed out in our yard for 2 hours. Went to Christos for Blueberry pancakes on Sunday and then took Londen to see her grandparents at the car show. Then it started to downpour and we got drenched. Kyle went home Sunday afternoon and I made Pad Thai for dinner.yummo
Monday we took Londen and the dogs to watch the parade. The route is a block away so its really close by. Jeff had to park cars for the Freemasons for a couple hours. After he was done it was one last trip to the festival. Jeff had to have more sirloin tips and I had cheese fries.
It was quite a busy weekend.

Collecting

I've been on a collecting habit for awhile. I love to find things from my childhood. I collect Nancy Drew books, She-ra figures, Vinyl records, 80's toys and lately Barbie. I have been collecting the Nancy Drew books for probably almost 10 years. Out of the 56 books I only have 5 more until the collection is complete. I started out with the yellow series but then the more I researched I saw that the books have been revised and shortened over the past 70 years. Words have been changed and stuff that is offensive to certain races has been removed. I decided I wanted to start finding the older books which are either dark blue with orange or blue tweed. Luckily I love antique stores, thrift shops and flea markets. I have found some really good editions. Plus thankfully there is Ebay to make it easier. Here is a picture of my collection.

After number 38 they were only printed in yellow. I have a few that I want replaced so I need to find those.

I loved these books as a child and started collecting them so that one day if I had a daughter she would have the entire collection at her fingertips. Since I had a little girl in January she will inherit this from me when she is old enough.

New Stuff

Londen has been hating her infant carseat for awhile now. I guess it's the reclining position that makes her uncomfortable. I don't blame her because it probably isn't too comfy. I have kind of been waiting until she can sit up on her own before I switch car seats because the infant one comes in handy for shopping. I can just put it on top of the cart and if I switch I am either going to have to carry her or take the stroller into the store. That doesn't work too well. So I had some extra money from my part time job so i went to kmart and bought her a new carseat. She really seems to like it. She didn't fuss much and she is in a much better position. Sure I would love to buy one of the fancy models but I don't have that kind of money so we settled for the Evenflo brand. I did some research and it got good reviews. Plus it was pink. A lot of her stuff in unisex incase we have a boy someday but  think we are one and done. But that is a whole different topic. So anywho we got her the pink one. 

                                                               She loves the iPad

We also tried to let her use a restaurant high chair for the first time and she did really good.

Yesterday though I tried to put her in a shopping cart and she wouldn't sit up straight so I had to carry her around. I guess we will have to try that one a little bit later so pushing her in the stroller is my only option right now :(

Londen Elyse

It is hard to believe my baby will be seven months old tomorrow. It seems like yesterday Jeff and I were moving into our new home after three years of living in Miami. Parenthood has really been a challenge. Londen is a very energetic baby and can't sit still. She seems to always wants to go go go. I do have to say it has gotten easier like everyone said it would. She is getting to be in the fun stage. She wants to play, is always interested in what Jeff or myself are doing or eating. She is a little piggie. She eats about 10oz each bottle. But in the past couple weeks she has been spreading her meals out. Yesterday she had a bottle at 8am and didn't finish her second one until about 4pm. She did eat some baby food too. I always read that babies are excited for food. I guess my baby is the oddball. She really has no excitement for food. She always looks bored. She is growing like a weed. She has to be almost 20 pounds by now. It is hard to believe she was only 5lbs 13oz seven months ago. I look at her weekly pics I take of her and she looks like an entire different baby. She has slept in her own bed since 2 months. We did cosleeping with her in our bed..OMG.. I know it can be dangerous but my mothers intuition was there to protect her and she did fine.
She has slept thru the night since three months old. We do a routine every night around 730-8pm. SHe gets a bath, gets her pajamas on and gets a bottle. I tried to read to her over and over but she just gets restless so I guess I will try again later. SHe was sleeping until 6am on the dot but the past month she has been a really good girl and sleeping from 8pm-730am. Yes she sleeps 10-12 hours a night :) It gives me time to get stuff done in the evening whether it's reading, selling ebay stuff or any other chores I have a hard time getting to during the day while she is awake.
Her naps are sporadic. Her first nap is usually consistent though. She pretty much naps about after being up for an hour and a half. Then she sleeps on the couch usually next to me for about 30-45 minutes. She is then up until usually 12. From then we just gauge it on her crankiness.
She is a daddy's girl. She gets so excited whenever Jeff comes home or even just walks into a room.
She seems to have no interest in crawling, she prefers wanting to stand and try to walk. My mom said my brother was the same way and that he never learned to crawl and went straight to walking.
Rolling over has been a challenge. It took her until 5 months to roll from back to tummy. One week later she rolled from tummy to back twice in one day but then hasn't done that since. So she rolls all the time on her tummy and gets stuck and cries until you flip her back over.
She still has no teeth. I swear she has been teething since 4 months. Drooling, biting and irritable is a daily thing.
She is wearing mostly 6-9 month clothes.
She loves her toys, especially her jumperoo, exersaucer and the jenny jump-up. She really hasn't became attached to a stuffed toy yet but she loves having a blanket to sleep with. Sure most peoplw won't agree with some of my parenting skills but I know whats best for my baby. I use bumper pads, I give her a blanket to sleep, give her cereal in a bottle and gave her solids early.
All in all she really is starting to become a little individual. She is our little Denden.