College Student to Mother of Three

I have spent the past few days overnight nannying for my neighbors who have three wonderful children. As a theme for this summer, I kind of feel like I graduated from college and immediately became a single parent. I absolutely love nannying and spending time with children and it is giving me excellent practice for when I have my own kids one day (a long time from now!). I really felt like a mom when I was taking the younger two kids to their Elementary School open house, which was at my old elementary school, and all the other mothers are looking at me and trying to do the math... The most fun thing about my job is that I get to be a kid again. And this week I actually got to use my Bachelor's Degree in psychology... I know what you are thinking... I did not psycho analyze the children, but I did get to share some of the research I did and some things I learned that I find extremely fascinating. My neighbor's oldest son is going into high school (I know he is too old for a babysitter but I was mostly just there to make sure the house didn't burn down and provide protection overnight because I am big and strong and can almost do 2 pull-ups now... I digress) and he is very curious about the human mind. So, put the two of us together in the same vicinity and I am on cloud nine. Surprisingly all three of the kids became fascinated in what I was telling them about human development and how infants perceive things differently than adults because of something called perceptual narrowing... And now the middle child wants to do social psych experiments on her mom. Anyway, I had a great time and I knew my formal education would come to good use someday ;) And I've still got a long way to go. I also had a chance to bake with the kids and this is the delicious concoction we came up with.

Chocolate Chip and Peanut Butter Banana Bread

Ingredients:

• 2 ripe bananas (smashed)
• 2 eggs
• 1 3/4 cup flour
• 1 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup veggie oil
• 1/4 cup crunchy peanut butter (melted)
• 1/3 cup buttermilk
• 1 tsp each of baking soda, vanilla, and salt

Baking Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Combine all ingredients until flour is mixed.
3. Butter a 9x5 bread pan.
4. Pour batter into the bread pan and sprinkle with sugar.
5. Put in the oven and bake for 1 hour and 25 minutes.

After a few days of overnight nannying I came home to share a slice of this delicious bread (more like dessert) with my mommy while sipping a spot of tea. Then my dad came home from work and we took our new paddle board down to the river for a nice relaxing paddle. This is the life... 

My daddy made that paddle board carrier :)

More adventures to come. 

LP's final requests

My little sister is currently enjoying a fun-filled orientation weekend at the best university in the nation, James Madison University of course. She had a couple final requests before she left and we made sure to oblige. For her final dinner she requested a salmon specialty, which I have perfected over the years (recipe to follow), and on the morning of her departure she requested I play Just Dance 3 with her one last time. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Just Dance, it is a video game that tracks your body movement to ultimately compete for the title of the best dancer!

The salmon I made is our family rendition of an entree my mom once had at bonefish grill. It is baked naked, then broiled with cooked spinach, bacon crumbles, and blue cheese. To finish it off we top it with a lemon, white wine, cream sauce :) I usually serve this particular salmon dish with a side of cauliflower mash, yumm!

Salmon à la Haley

In the words of my Gran: "Doesn't that look DI-LICIOUS"

Ingredients:

• A filet of salmon sectioned into 4-6 servings
• 1 bag of spinach (9 oz)
• 4 oz. of cooked original bacon
• 1 container of crumbled blue cheese or gorgonzola 
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

White Wine Sauce

• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1/4 cup of heavy cream
• 3 tsp salt
• 3 Tbsp lemon
• 10 Tbsp butter

Cooking Directions:

Salmon

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Line a baking sheet with tin foil (for easier clean up) and place the sectioned salmon on the sheet. 
3. Season each section of salmon with a little olive oil and salt and pepper (save some olive oil for the spinach).
4. Place the baking sheet in the oven for 25-30 minutes. 

Toppings

1. Sauté spinach over medium heat with a little olive oil and salt (add a pinch of garlic powder if so desired).
2. Crumble the cooked bacon into little pieces.

Sauce

1. Simmer wine and lemon for about 15 minutes.
2. Slowly add cream and cook until slightly thick.
3. Turn heat to low and whisk in chilled butter.

Final Preparation

1. Remove the salmon from the oven.
2. Top each section of salmon with spinach, bacon crumbles, and blue cheese.
3. Return salmon to the oven on broil for about 3-5 minutes, or until cheese begins to melt. 
4. Remove the salmon once again and top with a tablespoon or so of sauce.
5. Serve and enjoy!

A Grassroot Soccer Going-Away Party

Throughout the summer I have enjoyed standing alongside Matthew as he prepared to leave for a year long internship in South Africa. I knew our time together would fly by but it went even faster than I could have imagined. To celebrate his last few days in Alexandria, I threw together a little going away party. I had the best time creating decorations, cooking bbq (my mom did most of the cooking!), and coming up with an African themed playlist with my siblings. As "rains down in Africa" played in the background, friends from high school, James Madison, and Virginia Tech came pouring in! By the end of the night I had everyone write encouraging notes to Matthew and we all wished him the best on his upcoming adventure!
Here are some pictures from the night:

Mason Jars for collecting spare change towards Matthew's fundraising.

I printed Matthew's address and blog address on cardstock
and added these ribbons to make little bookmarks.

I love cowboy boots :) Doesn't necessarily match the African or Soccer theme
but it's a little touch of Haley :)

I made this giant map of Africa and gave myself a little geography lesson!

Spice cake cupcakes are my favorite, Matthew likes them too ;) I also made his favorite... chocolate covered strawberries!

Lindsey, Mommy, LP, and Me waiting for the guests to arrive!

 Matthew said he felt so special at the end of the night and was extremely encouraged by the amount of support he has received from so many family members and friends. I was so pleased to be able to put this little shin-dig together for him! Thank you to everyone who helped and came! Click here to hear the latest details from Port Elizabeth!