Last Minute Simple Cream Pie Recipe Featured On Craftaholics Anonymous® Today!

Hey y’all!  It is a beautiful day here in the South and while we are all baking and prepping for tomorrow’s big Easter dinner I thought I would help you out with a quick and simple cream pie recipe that I am sharing at Craftaholics Anonymous® today.  Best of all…it’s a recipe that has been passed down from generation to generation  in my family (so you know it’s awesome!) and it has a great story to go with it that is sure to make you crack a smile!

Cream_Pie_by_jRoxDesigns

Hippity hop over to Craftaholics Anonymous® to check it out!

Cream Pie by jRoxDesigns

Happy Easter!

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2013 Craftaholics Anonymous Creative Team

I’m part of the 2013 Craftaholics Anonymous® Creative Team!  Stop by and meet all the fabulous ladies that will be bringing you all sorts of inspiration all year-long here!

Get Ready for Spring and Easter With the Craftaholics Anonymous® Creative Team!

I know it is hard to believe that Spring is already here and Easter is right around the corner but it is not hard to find inspiration when you are surrounded by the fabulously talented girls of the Craftaholics Anonymous Creative Team!  Check out what these ladies have been up to and get inspired to get crafting!

Spring Wreath by Craftaholics Anonymous

Craftaholics Anonymous

Easter Craft- Burlap & Metallic Tote by the Sewing Rabbit on Craftaholics Anonymous

The Sewing Rabbit on Craftaholics Anonymous

Simple Easter Garland by My Fabuless Life

My Fabulous Life

Easter Panettone Recipe (Moldovan Style) by hip2thrift

hip 2 thrift

Paper Medallion Tutorial by Life Created on Craftaholics Anonymous

Life Created on Craftaholics Anonymous

Favorite Spring Fonts by Paper and Pigtails on Craftaholics Anonymous

Paper and Pigtails on Craftaholics Anonymous 

Glitter Spring Blocks by Crafting in the Rain

Crafting in the Rain

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Baileys Irish Cream Cucpakes

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!

I thought I would share with you today one of my favorite ways to enjoy rich and  tasty Irish Cream with recipes compliments of the Better Home and Gardens Cupcake Magazine!  Enjoy!

Irish Cream Cupcakes | jRoxDesigns

Irish Cream Frosting | jRoxDesigns

Devil's Food Cupcakes | jRoxDesigns

Download Your Own 3×5″ Printable Recipe Cards Here:

Irish Cream Frosting

Devil’s Food Cupcakes

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**Please make sure to enjoy your cupcakes responsibly  🙂 and remember the cakes are safe for the kiddos but they will need their very own frosting to enjoy too!**

Emma Grace is 19 Months Old!

Monthly Photo Project by jRoxDesigns - 19 Months

Emma Grace is growing up fast and sure is opinionated!  I saw this adorable fabric while picking up a couple of things at JoAnn’s the other week and as soon as I pulled it out and said “awww”  she grabbed it and squealed so loud!  She refused to let it go and then she hugged it for about 10 minutes straight.  Soooo I couldn’t help but grab it right up and write it off as a monthly photo fabric that will soon be turned into a new crib sheet for little missy!

Follow Emma Grace’s Photo Project Here!

Letters To Emma Grace

19 Months Old

Emma Grace is 19 Months Old | jRoxDesigns copyright 2013

Hey there beautiful!  That is what I tell you every morning when I come to scoop you out of your crib because you are the most beautiful little girl that ever lived!  I may be biased because I’m your Mommy but those little blue eyes are just the icing on the top of the cupcake! 🙂

Emma Grace is 19 Months Old | jRoxDesigns copyright 2013

You are so independent and you have to do everything yourself but for some reason this month you have started to loosen up a little.  You actually want to hold my hand and you now love cuddling.  Yes, it sounds crazy considering ever since you were born you would rather be left alone.  You now come running to me and give me BIG hugs and refuse to let go.

Emma Grace is 19 Months Old | jRoxDesigns copyright 2013

You stumble over a toy and decide that you need me to hold you to make it better.  It’s probably not the best thing in the world to do but I buy into your dramatic productions and squeeze you tight and give you a dozen kisses until you decide that you are okay to go back and play.  I can’t help it, I feel like I have a years worth of cuddling to make up for.  Those sweet kisses and hugs remind me of why I am so proud to be your Mommy.  I know that they will not last forever and I want to enjoy them while they last!

Emma Grace is 19 Months Old | jRoxDesigns copyright 2013

You are a HAM!  You laugh at the most random things get a kick out of the littlest things.  Bubbles…funny!  Squeeky shoes…HILARIOUS!  Who knows but those little giggles make everyone around you laugh!Emma Grace is 19 Months Old | jRoxDesigns copyright 2013

You love shoes!!  I bought you these little sparkly shoes at Target because after you found them you refused to let them go.  Yepp when you find something you like you realllly feel the need to keep it.  One morning you wanted to come and play in the workshop with me and I told you only if put on some shoes.  You crawled right up the stairs and brought these little sparkle shoes back down.  How can you say no to a toddler with her big brothers old jammies on, a bow in her hair and sparkle shoes who just wants to play in the workshop?  I’m weak…I can’t say no!

Emma Grace is 19 Months Old | jRoxDesigns copyright 2013

I think it is safe to say you have an obsession with shoes.  You like to try on all of my shoes out of my closet!  You also LOVE Daddy’s shoes.  You grab them every day while he is gone at work and wear them around the house while you cry out for him.  Your Daddy is your hero and you always run to greet him at the front door when he comes home every day.  Your face lights up when you see him.  It is the sweetest thing!Emma Grace is 19 Months Old | jRoxDesigns copyright 2013One afternoon as we are walking out to the car I asked you if you wanted to go see Daddy at work.  All of the sudden you ran back inside as fast as you could.  By the time I caught you, you had grabbed a Sun Drop and were running back toward the car screaming DAAADAAAA!!  You held on to it the entire way to work and would only let go of it when you handed it to Daddy!  You love him so much!

Emma Grace is 19 Months Old | jRoxDesigns copyright 2013

You love playing with your toys as well as everything that DOESN’T belong to you!  One morning you took a paper bag and tore it down the side and then sat inside of it.  Once you realized that if you scooted all the way to the back you could use it as a chair you were THRILLED with yourself!  You brought all of your baby dolls over to sit in your chair with you.  You laughed and giggled to yourself for at least 10 minutes.  I don’t think you could get over the fact that you made something out of your bag!

Emma Grace is 19 Months Old | jRoxDesigns copyright 2013

You have also turned into a daredevil acrobat!  You love to climb on EVERYTHING.  You have figured out how to climb up on the shelves inside the shower by pulling yourself up on the handle but you still can’t figure out how to get back down.  Same thing happened here.  Yepp you thought it would be fun to prop yourself up between the couch and the coffee table.  No worries the man of your dreams came to save you while Mommy laughed uncontrollably and took your picture.  Don’t worry you weren’t ever in any danger, you were only a foot off the ground!Emma Grace is 19 Months Old | jRoxDesigns copyright 2013

We had our first real snow this past month and you were so excited!  Brother played with all of his friends while you quietly ran around the yard exploring all of the places the snow was hiding.  You may have eaten a couple of pieces of mulch and dirt but I am happy to report you seem to have lived through it!

Emma Grace is 19 Months Old | jRoxDesigns copyright 2013

We had some problems with you sleeping through the night last month.  You would randomly wake up in the middle of the night and there would be nothing wrong, you just wanted to be held!  Oh and the only acceptable way to be held is in my bed, on my chest, with your arms and legs wrapped around me and my blankets covering you up.  Oh I loved it…the first night…then you could never get comfy enough to fall asleep so you just sat there moving around forever.  By the third night it got really old!  You did enjoy sleeping on my pillows some of the nights so I made you your very own little pillow, except now you try to use everything in the house as a pillow…including bubble wrap!

Emma Grace is 19 Months Old | jRoxDesigns copyright 2013

In some ways you are EXACTLY like your brother.  When he was about your age he had dozens of tiny cars that he would align in a perfect row.  When he got older he would even arrange them by color.  By the time he was two he had it down to a science and there were perfect little lines of dozens of teeny color coded cars all over our house!  While cooking dinner the other week I turned around and was greeted by what I fear is the start of color coded perfect straight lines of teeny tiny cars.

Emma Grace is 19 Months Old | jRoxDesigns copyright 2013

You still like to sleep late most days, which I LOVE!  But on the days Daddy opens I have to wake you up so we can take Jakie to school.  It amazes me how the second I open your door you sit straight up and are ready to go!  Jake is a morning person like Daddy and you love to sleep in just like me, but it takes Jake and I forever to actually fully wake up where you and Daddy need about a half a second to be fully alert.  I come in the morning and you always ask for Dada and Brah to see who is still home.  If I say we are going to take Jakie to school you hop down and grab your slippers and a jacket and run for the stairs.  I’m pretty sure the carpool people think I’m a slacker Mom since we both usually show up in sweatpants…but I actually put shoes on. 🙂

Emma Grace is 19 Months Old | jRoxDesigns copyright 2013

Emma Grace you LOVE to eat!  Even though you can’t say it you point to your teeth and pretty much demand to eat THAT second!  Then once I open the refrigerator door you like to stand there and check out everything to see what is the most appetizing.  Needless to say if you had it your way you would eat chocolate syrup, yogurt and cheese all day.  Oh and just for the record you have never had chocolate syrup so I don’t know how you could possibly know how good it really is! 😉

Emma Grace is 19 Months Old | jRoxDesigns copyright 2013

Actually I take it back you would eat waffles all day!  You wake up in the morning point to your teeth and scream wawwffullls!  You pretty much think they are the best things that ever happened to this earth and on special occasions I say why not!

Emma Grace is 19 Months Old | jRoxDesigns copyright 2013

I love you!

Momma

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An Amazing Family Photo Shoot with Mandy Johnson Photography!

Have you ever seen a photo that makes your heart stop?  That makes you tear up with overwhelming emotions of joy and pride?  That is about the best way I can attempt to describe how it felt to see the photos that Mandy captured of my sweet little family!

Smith Family Photo Shoot by Mandy Johnson Photography on jRoxDesigns

For those of you who may be new readers last November I shared with you that I was blessed to be chosen as the grand prize winner of the Mommy Blogger Contest from the  National Association of Professional Child Photographers!  Which meant I was the luckiest girl on earth because the insanely talented Mandy Johnson of Mandy Johnson Photography would be flying out to my hometown to shoot my family!  I know amazing right?!?  By the time our shoot day finally arrived it had been a long week for all of us.  The kids had been sick and we were all sleep deprived!  Did I mention it was only about 30 degrees outside?!  But it doesn’t matter because it worth every last snotty nose and screaming toddler temper tantrum that day once I finally laid eyes on these photos!

Smith Family Photo Shoot by Mandy Johnson Photography on jRoxDesigns

Now can you see why?  Mandy was able to capture these most precious moments that I will now be able to cherish forever.  I look into those sweet eyes of both of my babies and I am SO proud to be their Mom.  I am so proud of how Jake is growing up.   I am so proud of Emma Grace for the little lady she is becoming.  More than anything I am so proud to see the pictures of the four of us and know that Jeremy and I have done a wonderful job raising our children.  Now can you say that about your family pictures 😉  If you fell in love with our pictures as much as I did hop on over to Mandy’s site, check out all of her other amazing work and give her a call to see about getting her to capture those special moments with your family too!

Smith Family Photo Shoot by Mandy Johnson Photography on jRoxDesigns

Smith Family Photo Shoot by Mandy Johnson Photography on jRoxDesigns

Smith Family Photo Shoot by Mandy Johnson Photography on jRoxDesigns

Smith Family Photo Shoot by Mandy Johnson Photography on jRoxDesigns

Smith Family Photo Shoot by Mandy Johnson Photography on jRoxDesigns

Smith Family Photo Shoot by Mandy Johnson Photography on jRoxDesigns

Smith Family Photo Shoot by Mandy Johnson Photography on jRoxDesigns

Smith Family Photo Shoot by Mandy Johnson Photography on jRoxDesigns

Smith Family Photo Shoot by Mandy Johnson Photography on jRoxDesigns

Smith Family Photo Shoot by Mandy Johnson Photography on jRoxDesigns

Smith Family Photo Shoot by Mandy Johnson Photography on jRoxDesigns

Smith Family Photo Shoot by Mandy Johnson Photography on jRoxDesigns

Smith Family Photo Shoot by Mandy Johnson Photography on jRoxDesigns

Smith Family Photo Shoot by Mandy Johnson Photography on jRoxDesigns

Thank you again to

Alice (the co-founder of NAPCP  who is also an amazing photographer flew down with Mandy to join in on the fun!) for hosting such an amazing giveaway and giving my family an opportunity that we would never have been able to do on our own – and for letting me drool over your camera while Mandy shot the kids 😉

and of course…

Most of all thank you Mandy for doing such an amazing job capturing my family!  You are the best!

If you have a second make sure you stop by and check out

Mandy Johnson PhotographyAlice Park Photography

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