Archive for January 2014

Friday, January 31, 2014

Friday 5: Celebrating Simplicity

5 simple happenings from the week worth celebrating. 

Here's to insanely ridiculous sunsets.
(I am taking this as Mother Nature's attempt to apologize for the harsh winter.)

Speaking of the harsh winter…

Here's to being able to deal with ice on the inside of the fireplace door with a smile. 

Here's to another lost tooth.

Here's to getting fun things in the mail. 
(I'll chat about my Stitch Fix box soon!)

Here's to Vaughn's 100th day of Kindergarten! 

Cheers!
 What are you celebrating tonight?

Thursday, January 30, 2014

Wanted: Superbowl Snack Ideas

My goal for today is to find a way to happy up about this whole Superbowl thing that is quickly approaching. I have shared my dislike of football before so this should come as no surprise. I am holding strong with the idea that the only reason to be excited for the Superbowl is because it marks the end of football season. Hoo-ray. 

This is the first year in many that we will be attending a party and I do not know what to bring. Last year, just for us, I made these football brownies and they are an option but thought I would ask for recommendations. I know Pinterest is swarming with ideas but I want something that has been tried and true. 
Help me! What's your favorite appetizer/dessert to bring to a party? 



Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Make This: Jeweled Valentine's Day Classroom Cards

Valentine's Day. Wether you love it or loathe it, if you have kids, they are going to want to hand something out to their friends. Here is a quick little hand made card if buying a box of licensed character cards with tattoos isn't your thing.

Update: Click HERE for a free "Jewel of a Friend printable! 

When coming up with ideas for Valentine's I always try to remember two things. One, your child has to like it and two, it will be thrown away so do not spend too much time on it. This was a cinch and I only spent a whopping $3. Here goes.


The inspiration for these were the giant jewel ring erasers that I found at Target. 24 of them came in the bag and they were $3. 

I could have done the next step in many different ways including just hand writing the saying onto paper but I decided to get a little fancier. I used PicMonkey to design the words and banner then uploaded it into Pages (or Word for PC users) to get the dashed line around it. Make sure to leave enough space for a signature and for a hole to be punched. I printed mine out on colored card stock that I already had on hand. 
After printing, I cut them out and rounded the corners with an edge clipper. 

From this point on my daughter took over. She signed her name and stuck on a few jewel stickers that we had from a leftover project. I used a hole punch to punch the hole and twine to attach the ring erasers. Super simple!


What about you? Are you a buyer or a maker when it comes to classroom Valentine's?

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Our Delightful Home

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Valentine's Day Recap

It's Valentine's Recap Day! Enjoy a trip down memory lane and maybe pick up a few ideas for this Valentine's Day. Check back tomorrow for a cute kid's valentine card idea!

{decorations}
2012 


{kids classroom valentine's}

In 2011 I made moustache pops for Vance to pass out in class. (I wrote about them here, but when he demanded them again in 2012 I made a better how-to.)


{treats}

Heart Shaped Oreo Truffles 

Cupcakes with chocolate initials from 2011
(Just melt chocolate, pipe letters onto parchment, let them cool, then carefully peel them off and place onto tops of cupcakes.) 

See you tomorrow! Have a great day!


Friday, January 24, 2014

Friday 5: Celebrating Simplicity

5 simple but noteworthy and toast worthy happenings from the week. 

 Here's to wishes coming true. 
(Finally broke the wishbone from Thanksgiving.)

Here's to a break from the cold. 
(It only lasted one day and was followed by more snow, ice, and school cancellations but we made the most of it.)

Here's to playing Go Fish with Vaughn. Again. And again. 
(It's her favorite.) 

Here's to the kids working together.

Here's to finally sleeping in the dark. 
(My neighbor keeps all 4 garage lights on all of the time. It was never a big deal because the tall trees blocked it. Last year, the tree in the middle died and we replaced it with something smaller and since then the lights stream through our bedroom window like beacons even when the blinds are closed. Yesterday, for some reason, the lights were off. Burned out? Turned off? Don't know but I hope it continues!) (Posting a picture of not my house seemed creepy so I drew an illustration. You're welcome.)


Cheers!
What are you toasting to tonight? 

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Throwing in the Dish Towel.

On Monday I threw in the proverbial dish towel. I was tired of hearing the kids complain about dinner choices so I stooped to their level and announced, "I don't wanna do it. YOU do it."

I brought up a pasta board on Pinterest and told them to pick one and make a grocery list. They agreed upon lasagna roll-ups and had a good time making them. I, of course, was there to oversee the boiling of the noodles and that hands were washed before all the scooping and the rolling.






It was cute to see how proud of themselves they were. I will definitely leave dinner to them more often! (I wonder if this would work with laundry too???) 

Have a great day!





Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Road Trip

For many reasons, I do not excel at road trips. When it comes to traveling I prefer the quickest way possible to get to the destination. Thank goodness Justin and I have always agreed on this. We're flyers, not drivers. 

That being said, we had to take a road trip last week. Our destination was so remote that even if flew we would still have a 5 hour drive after landing. 

So we drove almost 10 hours to Kansas on Thursday...

and turned around and drove almost 10 hours back home on Friday.

 The kids were fantastic both ways which it made easier. I, on the other hand, nearly lost my mind out of boredom. I was at my breaking point and still had at least 3 hours to go.

  
Our only saving grace was satellite radio and off the wall programs such as Forensic Files. They saw us the way home. 

The next morning we were right back at it with two basketball games and a much needed date night.

Looking forward to slowing things down a bit this week!

Thursday, January 16, 2014

New Thing: Matte Nail Polish

I recently saw someone in my Instagram feed with matte polish and it became my new assignment. Planning dinner could wait. Off to Sephora I went. 

  First apply normal polish and let it dry.

Then apply the matte top coat. Magic. 

It is not often that I paint my nails but this fun little twist may have me painting them more often! 

What do you think of the matte? Yay or Nay? 


Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Business as Usual

This week has been all about getting back on schedule. We were all out of whack from Christmas, the snow storm, and the kids having 6 extra snow days tacked onto the end of winter break. To top everything off Justin has been out of the country. I say I'm not stressed out but my twitching eye says differently.(Seriously, it can stop anytime now.)

The kids have been in school for 3 consecutive days now and Justin got back last night so business as usual for all of us today. 

I will say technology still blows my mind. Justin, in Scotland at the time, was able to watch part of Vance's basketball game through FaceTime on my phone. How awesome is that? 

Friday, January 10, 2014

Friday 5: Celebrating Simplicity

5 noteworthy and toast worthy happenings from the week.

It has been a hell of a week. Mother Nature dumped over a foot of snow on us and brought the temps down to record breaking lows. School has been cancelled for the past 6 days and we all went a lot bit stir crazy. The kids finally went back today and this Mama couldn't be more thankful. Here's how we made it through the week.
   
Played in the snow before the temps dropped too low.

Read by the fire. (Picturesque but only lasted for 10 minutes.) 

 Melted crayons and fought over who got to be closest. 

Snowblowed and shoveled. Over and over. 

I actually sharpened pencils for fun. That's how bad it got. 

So thankful that we made it through the storm without pipes bursting or anything else more serious! Cheers to that, staying warm, and that the rain today will melt all the snow!

What are you celebrating tonight?



Tuesday, January 07, 2014

Dining Room Ideas

Dining Room



I need a break from talks of wind chills, snow depths, and school cancellations. Lets talk color and dining rooms.

I threw this mood board together in hopes that it will bring direction and motivation. Our incredibly boring dining room is next on the to-do line up and I am still a little lost. 

Here's what I am working with:
Greige walls, tannish brown carpet, a similar table, and the exact light fixture. I would love new chairs but those will have to wait. (I'm thinking big and comfy chairs for the ends and something parson-y for the others.) Also, I already have the reclaimed barn wood that will be put up on one wall. The wood is a mixture of browns and grays and I am looking for a color that will compliment both.

I'm thinking blue might be the answer! What do you think?

Here's hoping for warmer weather and that school will be open tomorrow! Have a great day!






Friday, January 03, 2014

Friday 5: Celebrating Simplicity

5 noteworthy and toast worthy happenings from the week. 

Here's to family dance sessions while trying out the Xbox One. 
(The playbacks are hilarious!) 

Here's to saying goodbye to our old car that has been through so much with us.
  (And to (finally) getting a new one.) 

Here's to  fancy outfits and twirling on New Years Eve.
  
Here's to the third and final coat of wax.
(The bathroom re-do is in the final stages.)

Here's to Snow Days. 
Off yesterday due to snow and surprise! off today because it was too cold and many of the buses were having issues.

Today I will not lose my cool. I will keep it together and Mom the hell out of these kids. I'll play games that I don't want to play. I will not think about the snow and cold temps that are supposed to be here on Monday and how school will most likely be cancelled again. I will keep expectations low on productivity and by doing so we'll all have an awesome day. At least that's my plan of attack as of 8:10 AM this morning. 

I hope you all have great weekends!
Cheers!
What are you toasting to tonight?




 

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