A Boy, His Girls, A Big Dog & A House

MIA Monday

2012-01-30T20:41:00.000-05:00

Holy Toledo, have I been MIA or what? Sure as heck have, and I apologize. I wish I had some great, flashy excuse...that I was visiting a sandy beach, or was finishing up my thesis and couldn't tear myself away...nope, the truth is, I started swallowing daggers (got a sore throat) last Tuesday night and lost all motivation to do anything other than swallow without bursting into tears.

I finally saw a Doc at an Urgent Care place here yesterday morning and sure enough, this lady has Strep Throat. Is it beyond me why on God's Green Earth Adults can get such a dreadful bacteria, but at the same time, I find myself wishing I could take the pain away from my girls when they are sick, so maybe I caught this one so they could skate by Strep-Free...even if that isn't the case, I am going to choose to think about it that way, that this beyond obnoxious sore throat I have been suffering from wasn't for not, it was because I stripped the germs away from my beauties and took one for the team.

And of course, I had to get sick last week in the midst of a 60+ hour work week (no more on that later, I don't want to get into it, lets just say, while exciting and full of challenges, this new job is filled with long hours). We also had company for the weekend, our good friend Rob and his 2 year old son Braeden. It was great to spend time with them, but I felt like a dud all weekend.

So I don't have a great recipe to share with you, because I haven't whipped anything up in ages. We had Chinese on Friday Night and Pizza Saturday Night and I have been avoiding food, outside of the Ice Cream Brad brought me last night and leftover Pork Fried Rice...I plan to get back on the meal making wagon STAT.

Home Tour Tuesday on Thursday: Girls Bathroom

2012-01-26T08:07:00.000-05:00

As you come up the stairs, you make a right and head straight down the hall and you enter the girls bathroom. It sure is bright in there, isn't it? I purposely chose a wall color that was gender neutral just in case we ended up having a third that didn't share the same "southern parts" as the first two...I figured all the accents were no regret decisions, but I wanted to keep the paint gender neutral. I can't say that I am madly in love with it, but for now it does the trick. I think as they grow I will tone it down a bit, but its bright and cheery and sometimes during bath time I need a little warm and sunny to keep my patience in check.

The room was done in the Fall of 2009, so I guess we will leave it as is for a little while longer (I don't really have a choice - Brad would NEVER agree to changing it, he seems to think paint is one of those things you do and never look back on - boy oh boy is he in for a rude awakening, I am itching to paint several areas of our home).

Even if we don't end up changing this rooms color palate around for a few more years I do plan to frame in the mirror over the sinks. Right now it is still the large, plain contractor mirror and I have seen a lot of tutorials online that give me inspiration on how to frame it up and make it look all snazzy. I can't wait. That shouldn't be too difficult and should be pretty affordable, so maybe that will even make it on the Spring Project List (wait, I need to make one of those!)

The little hook/photo thing is a bit too low now, but it was perfect for their baby towels, the challenge is, moving it up requires a significant patch job, because it is basically bolted into the wall. Not sure why they make the hanging contraptions so difficult for something so simple, I guess they need to be prepared for you to hang your 35lb child from it and it needs to be secure enough to hold it (kidding of course)

Next Up for the Home Tour is likely the Guest Bedroom...Stay Tuned.

Menu Monday: Mocha Truffle Cake

2012-01-23T09:57:00.001-05:00

I snagged this recipe from the February 2012 All You Magazine and it looks fan-tas-tic, and I can't wait to whip it up. My plan is to make it the weekend before Valentine's Day. Brad and I are going to attempt to kick the sweets, so the cabinets are going to be sweet free, so this will be a deliberate sweet cheat, and I am already drooling thinking about it.

Ingredients:

12 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 tablespoon instant espresso powder

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

6 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon confectioners' sugar

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a 9-inch springform pan and line bottom with parchment. Butter parchment.

2. Combine chocolate, sugar and espresso powder in bowl of a food processor. Process until chocolate is finely ground, about 30 seconds. With blades in motion, pour in 3/4 cup boiling water. Process until chocolate has melted, about 20 seconds. Add butter, eggs and vanilla. Pulse several times to thoroughly mix into a thin batter.

3. Pour batter into springform

4. Place cake on a serving plate and let stand at room temperature for 15 to 30 minutes. Just before serving, sift confectioners' sugar over cake. Serve with whipped cream, if desired.

You can find the recipe here at MyRecipes.com

Gooooo Toommmmm Brrrraaaaddddyyy

2012-01-22T21:53:00.000-05:00

Isn't he just fantastic?

I am thrilled the Pats pulled it out this evening, but I am not going to lie, I was a nervous wreck, I wasn't sure they were going to pull it out, it feels wrong to admit that, but Brian and I were on the edge of our seats, actually that isn't true, he was standing up! Come on folks, I grew up in New England, I am a NE Sports Fan through and through...Go Pats, Go Sox, Go Bruins, Go Celts - Make us proud!!!

Five on Friday: Things I miss when I eat well

2012-01-20T11:06:00.000-05:00

I started eating better again on January 2nd, with the rest of the free world, and I don't immediately feel better, in fact I end up just feeling bad for myself and missing the things that I have set out to not eat...but I know the feeling better piece is just around the corner, I need to stick with it...but until then, I thought I would share the top 5 things that I am missing right now...

1) Doritos - I couldn't love them more. I would marry them if I could. Nacho or Cool Ranch, doesn't matter to me, love them both, could eat them night or day, and by the truck full.

2) Mexican Food - I could eat it day or night, I could eat it 7 days a week, I could eat a taco, an enchilada or a burrito, and of course I could eat my weight in chips & salsa and don't forget about the Guac.

3) Cheese & Crackers - and mass quantities of it. Big blocks of sharp cheddar paired with oodles of wheat thins...I could eat cheese and crackers for dinner, I love it that much.

4) Pizza - this is a family favorite and we were eating it probably once a week, maybe not quite that often, but the Turner family loves them some pizza. If given the choice I would sit down and eat a NY Style with Pepperoni and Mushroom and life would be good.

5) Ice Cream - this quite possibly is my favorite food. I eat it all year round, but during the summer months when Brad is traveling sometimes it is dinner for the girls and I. I love all flavors, soft serve too. And the Peanut Butter sauce from Friendly's is to die for!!

Olivia at 4.5 Years Old

2012-01-19T18:23:00.001-05:00

Here is our beauty - all 4.5 years of her...and how about you settle in and get to know who she is now in this moment for just a second.

I stole this idea from Pinterest and then my friend Rachel reminded me of it when she did it for her son's 3rd Birthday (which btw, his answers were hilarious), so I thought I would conduct this interview with both beauties on both their half birthdays and their full birthdays, so here you have Olivia's answers at 4.5 years old.

1. What is your favorite color? Orange

2. What is your favorite toy? Baby Dolls

3. What is your favorite fruit? Peaches

4. What is your favorite tv show? Jake & the Neverland Pirates

5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Bologna Sandwich

6. What is your favorite outfit? A dress

7. What is your favorite game? Bingo

8. What is your favorite snack? Peanut Butter Crackers

9. What is your favorite animal? My Heart Doggy (Stuffed) - Elephant & Zebra (real ones that move around in a zoo)

10. What is your favorite song? "I don't have a favorite song"

11. What is your favorite book? "I don't have a favorite book"

12. Who is your best friend? Johanna

13. What is your favorite cereal? "Snow Flakes" aka Frosted Flakes

14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Swing

15. What is your favorite drink? Water & Apple Juice

16. What is your favorite holiday? Christmas & Halloween

17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Books to look at

18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Pancakes

19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? Mexican

20. What do you want to be when you grow up? A doctor & a teacher "I can be both"

Almost 5...

2012-01-18T21:16:00.002-05:00

When you ask Olivia how old she is, sometimes you get "Almost Five" or sometimes we say "Four and a half", but either way you slice it, this beauty of ours is growing up. Today we celebrated her half birthday and we are doing it in style, style chosen by the queen Olivia herself. I made some cupcakes and we dined at Don Pepe...her favorite.

Shame on me for not getting a single photo of her today - bad Mommy!

Home Tour Tuesday: Hallway Edition

2012-01-18T20:59:00.000-05:00

I don't suspect this one is going to knock any ones socks off and frankly the photo quality is abysmal, I don't have an ounce of natural lighting since I am snapping these photos at 8:30pm, so bare with me. I wanted to wrap up the first floor so that next week we could head upstairs, so this is a look into our hallways and foyer area.


Foyer Area 2005 - quite possibly the day we moved in, notice the box on the bottom right

Going up the stairs - July 2005

We haven't made any radical changes to the hallways outside of adding some paint to the walls, which at this moment in time I would love to change, but of course since it was just completed about 2 years ago I can't imagine it will be changing anytime soon, especially since it is an open 2 story foyer, so it isn't a job we can tackle on our own.

This is the view when you walk in the front door of our house. The bench houses the girls shoes, they each have their own basket and for the most part their shoes stay in their baskets, and then of course I dump my work bag and purse on or near the bench as well.

If I come in the front door and swing into the home office and look out into the foyer this is what I see. The same piece of furniture, the same coat rack, just about everything is the same, outside of the fact that my Grandmother's Christmas Cactus is now taking up residence on the sideboard table, it looks about the same. The wreath is a holiday decoration that needs to come down, most of the year that mirror is empty.

Here is a view from the bench area, this gives you a look into the "nook" area and shows you the size of the wall. I would love to add some bead board or board and batten on that wall and brighten it up a bit - it needs something. The little toy bucket of Riley's is look pretty pathetic right there, but just wait for a close up one of these days, it was a super quick (and cute) Silhouette project.

Boring view of the landing as we go up the stairs...nothing too exiting is going to happen on this set of stairs or landing in the medium term, but I would love to pull up the carpet and finish the stairs, paint the banister white and freshen it all up just a bit, but I would have nightmares about the girls slipping down the stairs in their socks if they were wood, so until those nightmares lessen, the stairs will be staying just the way they are.

And instead of going upstairs, you make your way towards the garage and the half bath you will find this hallway, with a small little welcome center, where the girls hang up their coats and we hang our keys. And don't forget the Dora Umbrella, that thing has been hanging there since the day Olivia got it, I don't know why I don't put it in the coat closet. (Which will be a post soon since I have a small project planned for it).

And this is the view if you are coming in the door from the garage - notice Riley's little tush made the photo. He was glued to me tonight, our little Velcro pooch. Adding board and batten in this hallway is a priority for 2012, it was on my 2011 list, but didn't happen, so it WILL happen this year. At a minimum we will be moving the girls hooks up and adding at least a piece of molding, taking down the "welcome center" and adding some white to this area, it is too dark for my liking, and the little memo board will likely be sprayed a pleasant shade of white. If we do the board & batten high enough, I might tackle painting this area on my own to brighten it up a bit, I am over this dark putty color, too bad it is EVERYWHERE in our house.

If you have any suggestions on how to brighten up the sideboard area or the hallways, please, let the ideas flow, I would love to hear all about them. And I can imagine you now have an extra pair of socks on, because this post had the opposite affect of knocking them off, it was so boring you had time to read this and put another pair on - goodness gracious. Next week's Home Tour Tuesday Post will be a tad more interesting, but not much, as it will likely be our Guest Bedroom.

Welcome to The World Baby Joshua

2012-01-17T21:24:00.000-05:00

Jeni Dwyer Creative

My dear friend Lisa and her amazing husband Dan, along with her adorable son Owen, welcomed Baby Joshua Graham to the world today, 3 weeks early, weighing in at 9lbs 4oz.

Jeni Dwyer Creative

You might recall that Owen has another baby brother too, Elliott, but he was born sleeping in November 2010, so now Owen is blessed with two brothers, one here to be his constant playmate, and one in heaven to watch over them.

Jeni Dwyer Creative

My gal pal Jeni was fortunate enough to fly out to Seattle over the weekend, spend a few days with Lisa & Family and was there to photograph and witness Joshua's Birth, talk about an amazing experience. Heck, I thought meeting Lisa in December of 2010 was life changing, but watching her bring a baby into this world probably tops the charts.

Jeni Dwyer Creative

To steal a word from my girl Sarina, I am elated for Lisa and her Mudgett Men. She is now the lady of the house (she always has been, but you know what I mean), and I know that those boys are going to steal her heart over and over again. She is a fantastic mother to Owen and I just know that Joshua was made just for her heart, to help her heal, his precious little face has some miraculous healing powers and I am just looking at photographs from 3,000 miles away. I can't imagine the powers he has when you smell his skin and those tiny little hands grip your finger.

Jeni Dwyer Creative

I was on pins and needles all day, waiting for the news that the lungs were ready and it was time to meet this sweet baby. The gender was a surprise and while that is generally enough to keep me glued to my phone in this case I could have cared less, I just wanted the news that he/she was here and he/she was screaming their little lungs out, and by the looks of that first breath catching photograph above, it was a perfect moment.

Jeni Dwyer Creative

And how about a standing ovation for Jeni, she captured the moments of the day just perfectly. There are tons of other photos that make my heart soar, I could look at them all night long. I was joking with Jeni and Brad that her skills might be reason enough to have another baby...it just wouldn't be fair to keep her talents from the world, its is my duty to help her show them off...right? I don't think Brad bought it, but it was worth a try.

All is right with the world...and welcome to it, Joshua Graham.

Menu Monday: Shortcut Garlic Bread

2012-01-17T20:50:00.000-05:00

So today I thought I would share another menu shortcut favorite of mine. This one is straight from my Mom's kitchen. I can remember growing up, flying down to Florida to visit my cousins (3 boys) and they would beg my Mom to make her famous Garlic Bread, and you bet your bottom dollar I didn't protest, I loved it! It wasn't until I grew up a bit did I realize just how easy this hot, buttery, goodness was to prepare. My Mom should have thrown flour on her face and huffed and puffed as she prepared this to get some extra credit for just how amazing this Garlic Bread recipe really is.

Ingredients:
1 Packet Good Seasoning Dressing Mix
1 Stick Butter or Margarine
Bread of your choice (Sometimes Crusty French/Italian, and sometimes a package of English Muffins)

What you do:
1) Prepare to have your world rocked by the best darn garlic bread your taste buds have come into contact with.

2) Soften Butter - but really that means just leave it out on the counter for a few hours, do NOT melt it in the microwave, you don't want a puddle of butter, you want the consistency of the soft spreadable butter than comes in the tubs

3) Pour Seasoning Packet over butter in an air tight (can be stored in the fridge type bowl), and mix together really well until its a seasoning-buttery spread

4) Use a knife to spread the "butter" over English Muffins or on a loaf of fresh bread (French or Italian). If using English Muffins, broil them. If using a loaf of bread, wrap in tin foil and place in the oven on 350 for 20 minutes or so, basically until the butter is nice and melted and the bread is crusty and warm.

5) Enjoy and don't give a second thought to the fact that you used an entire stick of butter...

This really is one of my favorites, and I happen to have another favorite Garlic Bubble Loaf I just might share with you in one of the upcoming weeks...I have a thing for Garlic Bread...I would marry it if I could. And I have to admit, I think using the English Muffins is PURE GENIUS. The butter just fills up those precious nooks & crannies, it is full stick of butter good!

Adults Only...for a Night

2012-01-15T17:17:00.000-05:00

Brad and I dropped the girls with my Parents on Saturday Morning and jumped on 64 East to meet up with our dear friends for a night oceanfront in Virginia Beach. We arrived just in time to join the crew for lunch at Waterman's, where I enjoyed my very first Ruby Red Crush (they are famous for their Orange Crush drink)

I dined on some rather delicious She Crap Soup and Brad devoured a Crab Cake Sandwich, I love me some seafood!!! The rest of the crew also enjoyed their meals, heck, we were a party of 6, and did I mention all 6 of us were adults? What isn't to love about that? I could have been eating cardboard and it would have been heavenly.

The girls and I spent the afternoon being pampered at the Founders Inn & Spa...while the boys bar hopped like frat boys.

Needless to say, the girls and I enjoyed a relaxing dinner at Mahi Mah's and then met up with the boys for a quick drink at Catch 31, which is a snazzy little spot located Oceanfront in the Hilton, which I believe happens to be the nicest accommodations in Virginia Beach. I have never been a huge fan of Virginia Beach, (I am an Outer Banks girl) but having the ocean 2 hours away is pretty great, we hope to make a few day trips with the girls this summer, or even grab a room for a night.

It was nice to have a break, but I missed the girls terribly...of course when we arrived at my Parents house to pick them up, they wanted nothing to do with us and were asking to eat and take their naps at my Parents house - clearly they didn't miss us the way we missed them....on one hand it makes me sad, but at the end of the day it makes me feel pretty darn good that they have such a good time with my Parents. (Thanks Mom & Dad).

Five on Friday: Favorite Movies

2012-01-13T09:26:00.000-05:00

I thought I would kick of 2012 with a light topic like movies, but of course, just when I think it will be light, I realize that some of my favorite movies aren't so light, but don't fool yourself, some are VERY light...beyond light, actually....

1) Shawshank Redemption - can you believe this movie was released in 1994? Talk about making me feel old? Good Grief! This movie just frosts the cake for me, I love it, everything about it, and its hard to put into words what I love about it, but trust me, its THAT good. And according to IMDB it is #1, which surprises me since I usually like all the movies that the critics hate...

2) Cinderella Man - I have only seen this movie once, and I saw it on a plane to Vegas so take my review with a grain of salt, but from what I remember I fell madly in love with this movie, I was cheering out loud and making a complete fool of myself on the plain and I was sobbing like sometime had just told me my dog died (like in Marley in Me...holy smokes, total tearjerker). I think what really locked this one for me was how committed Russell Crow was to being a father, he gave the shirt off his back and the last bite on his plate to his starving children...maybe I should watch this one again, but from what I remember, I loved it.

3) 13 Going On 30....changing gears just a bit, this one isn't winning any awards but I just love it, I don't know why, and people expect me to be embarrassed by how awful this movie is, but honestly I have no shame in my game, I just love it. I wish I could learn the thriller dance just like Jennifer Garner's character....in fact, maybe that should go on my February Goal list....not a bad idea...

4) The American President - again, hard to put into words, but I just love it, I love all the witty lines that Michael Douglas delivers, and I love to imagine that our Presidents are really as down to Earth as he is. I love it when she storms into the White House bedroom and slams all the drawers looking for the sweater she left there...can you imagine doing the walk of shame from The White House...holy smokes.

5) Sweet Home Alabama - couldn't love it more. I even love her rental car choice when she goes back to her hometown, and some of the quotes, like "You can't ride two horses with one ass, sugarbean". I love romantic comedies, I can't get enough of them, and I love happy endings, in fact my blood starts to boil when they don't end in happy endings..."You're the first boy I ever kissed Jake, and I want you to be the last" - how precious is that? If you are a romantic, this movie is for you, how could it NOT be? And there is a bloodhound in this movie, I love bloodhounds, and Patrick Dempsey is McDreamy...DUH.

And I should note that The Help is up there, but I have only seen it once (I know, I know, I have only seen Cinderella Man once as well, but it left a huge impression)...I can imagine The Help once I see it again will break into the top 5...I mean how can you not love a movie that quotes "You is Kind, You is Smart, You is Important"...tears just thinking about it.

Next Friday: 5 Things I miss while trying to eat healthy...

Two Of Three...

2012-01-12T07:33:00.000-05:00

Two of my loves...

I miss the Thankful Thursday posts, and while I don't want to over-theme my week by having something set out to do every single day, I do want to make sure that I reflect during the week on what I am thankful for, so that I can look back and remember that I did take a pause every now and then to remember why I am here and why I am thankful to be here.

Here are some random happenings from our life, that remind me that, the moments when I sit down to reflect on what I want to share, it ends up being the sweet, funny moments I generally want to push out to the world, so you can share in my joy, or laugh with me, however at times, you bet your bottom dollar it is also therapeutic to share the chaos that is our lives, and lets be honest, most of the time I am laughing about that too, humor is a good thing to keep around.

Olivia is growing up, the girl's vocabulary is out of this world, she amazes me every single day with the things that come out of her mouth, I can imagine I am in for a wild ride when this beauty hits the teen years. While not quite as entertaining without her mannerisms and inflection I thought I would share with you one of her recent remarks...

Setting: Kitchen & Riley has just passed gas...
Olivia: "Oh for the love of God, what is that horrible smell? Oh barnacles! It must be stinky Riley"

I love Olivia's hand on Avery's shoulder...

Avery is Avery... she is our spunky little girl, full of energy, passion and convictions, we never know what we are going to get with Avery, but lately she has started to pick up some new strategic skills, the most recent being: ~~manipulation~~ flattery.

Setting: Kitchen & she wants some candy
Avery: "Mommy, me want some candy"
Me: "Avery, it isn't time to have candy, I am making dinner honey"
Avery: "Mommy me love you, now me have some candy?"
Me: "I love you too, and no, it isn't time for candy honey"
Avery: "Mommy, you the best Mommy EVER, candy time, me have some?"

She learned from the best - Olivia loves to use the "You are the best Mommy ever" or "Mommy I love your shirt" just before she is going to ask for something she fears I might turn down.

It is easy for me, too easy, I am ashamed to admit, to get caught up in the day to day hustle and bustle, whether it be of the holidays, or just the daily routine, which around here tends to be a little hectic, I need nights like last night to remind me what types of memories I hope the girls share with their little ones someday. We usually give the girls a bath every single night, we usually skip Friday nights, but during the week they get baths every single night, but last night Brad and I were freezing and Olivia suggested that to get warm we all snuggle, so I took her idea and ran with it, made the executive decision to skip baths, we all quickly got in our PJ's and by 6:50pm we were all snuggled in our bed watching TV together. I love nights like that, it energizes me as a parent to throw routine out the window, live for the moment and just hang out with the girls, I need to do it more often (then the control freak in me, might have a coronary, but we can give it a shot, we can ease our way into more spontaneous family time). So tonight I am thankful that last night we threw caution to the wind, skipped baths and just snuggled as a family...

Wordy Wednesday: Strong

2012-01-11T09:18:00.001-05:00

Home Tour Tuesday: Morning Room

2012-01-10T20:48:00.000-05:00

Morning Room July 2005 - just after we moved in, great photo isn't it?

This room was a huge selling point for us when we walked the model home prior to singing our contract. We just loved it. We loved how versatile the room is...a perfect spot to read the paper and sip coffee (if you drink coffee), the perfect spot to banish your children and their toys to, the perfect home for your pet's home away from home, the perfect spot for your family meals...the list goes on and on. I just love it.But mercy me, the lighting is simply awful. We have the same model home as Brian & Molly (neighbors & pals) and yet, they have recessed lights in the Morning Room, and we do not - how unfair is that?


Morning Room - December 2005 (that crate is about half the size of his current crate)

This room has been through many changes in the 6 years we have lived in this house. It started as the room that housed Riley's crate and our cafe table, that was basically only used when we entertained. Brad and I never sat there. I ended up selling that table on Craig's List when Olivia was born and we moved to a normal height table, simply because I was terrified that the girls needed to be closer to the ground should they fall out of their chair...logical right?

January 2010, look at Avery...she is almost 1 in this photo.

This is also our second shade of red...and it is on its way out. I am over the red. The first shade looked like a tomato, I hated it. It was Brad's idea, he thought the current red was too dark on the paint chip color thingy, but after just a few weeks of the tomato red, we were calling our trusty painter back to darken it up a bit. And now, we are calling him to lighten it up a TON...final color is still TBD, but I want to lighten it up BIG TIME.

January 2010


January 2010

And just for fun, here is Brad & Avery in the Morning Room - January 2010

And of course, now we have the girls toys, and Riley's crate has been banished to the Home Office...and I just removed the rug a few weeks ago, I really like the bare floor look in here, but not sure if that is the smartest move for the floors, we shall see, either way, it would be a light rug, if I added one back at all. And sorry to say it, but not a sisal one, it is nearly impossible to vacuum up couscous from that genre of rugs - nightmare.

Current - view from the Family Room Opening...

I have high hopes for this room, some will become a reality in a few short months and others likely are 2013+. First order of business will be add some more light to the space, by way of two swag lights near the girls table. Second, move the newly refinished armoire into its spot. Third, pick a paint color and kick that red to the curb. Fourth, refinish the table, likely a shade of white/gray, do something about the black cabinet in the corner, either refinish or move it out of the space, and lastly finish the new Ikea Rast Dresser. And of course, when all of those big things are done, then I will work on the decor.

View from French Doors that lead out to the deck

And notice the table needs some love, its already started to show some wear & tear...

The kitchen has been moved around several times, and it doesn't fit all that well on this wall, but I like that it fits snug, and doesn't swim on the other wall. If we end up using Bedroom #4 as a joint playroom/study room for the girls down in a year or so I can imagine if they are still playing with this then it will find itself relocated to the playroom.

This is a view from the girls table area, the armoire is going to go where the blue mirror is currently hung, not sure if the mirror will be able to stay around or not, we haven't measured, but we are certain the cheapo black drawer storage thingy will have to hit the road. I have already emptied it out and it is just waiting to be relocated. The sad wine fridge in the left corner sounds like its on its last leg, so I guess we have some wine to drink.

New Ikea shelves and dresser are now in place, we just need to pick a color and finish the dresser and use some organizational techniques to freshen up the shelves.

This black cabinet from Crate and Barrell circa 2005, is oh so very functional, it holds a ton of the girls books, art supplies and puzzles right now and I can't imagine not having it around, but since the room is going through a de-black-a-fying phase, I am not sure what we will do with it, likely refinish it if it turns out we need the storage, and we likely will.

And toy overload. I do love that the kitchen holds a ton of stuff, and those baskets are full of random toys, actually the non-canvas one is full of baby dolls and baby doll clothes, ideally those will go in the dresser, we haven't actually started using the dresser for storage just yet, other than 2 puzzles, that happen to take up an entire drawer (probably not smart), so that basket might not end up looking quite so scary after I put the dresser to use.

I hope you too can see that this room has a ton of potential, but that I am far from reaching it or I should say, this room is far from its end state, but for now it works and it is helpful to have the girls toys out of our main living areas. What would ya'll do about window treatments? I have been stumped about how to handle these windows since we moved in...the blinds just look so cold, but I can't quite figure out what I would do...any suggestions?

I love Fabric

2012-01-09T14:25:00.000-05:00

Hi, my name is Leigh and I have a small obsession with fabric. There are a few challenges associated with said obsession...the first and largest being that I don't sew, so my ability to use the adored fabric is rather limited, but don't you fret, that doesn't hold me back from admiring it and dreaming about all the things I would like to do with the glorious fabrics.

I loved this pillow, the coloring is a bit off, it was a brighter blue and the red was bright as well, hold onto your seats....it is $188.

Saturday I went on a hunt for some fabric to recover two lamp shades for my Swag Light project and ended up just strolling the aisles of Williams & Sherrill dreaming about all the ways I could put some of the beautiful fabric to work in our humble abode. I tried a few other places, but found the best options at W & S, but their prices are hit or miss, I found a few options that were north of $60 a yard, I wanted to yell SHUT THE FRONT DOOR, but figured the nice sweet Southern Ladies that run the place wouldn't have appreciated that reaction. Some are reasonable though, and if you are lucky and can find something that works in their outlet store you might find yourself doing the Rudy Huxtable dance like you just scored a touchdown.

I loved this one, I am thinking about infusing some gray into the Morning Room area and thought that this one might be fun for a cork board or something like that to add some color, yet also stay with the gray theme.

I have no Earthly idea what I would do with this crazy fabric, but I loved the colors together and figured that it was photo worthy...

I am thinking this one might be making an appearance in our home sooner rather than later, I love it, and it will go perfectly in our family room, maybe a pillow? Or hold onto your seats, could be a chair?

Here is another option for the family room, but I think I like the first one better, this one is a bit too dark, but maybe not a bad option to hide more dirt if I did go with a chair?

And this beauty is in the running for either chairs for our dining room or window treatments for our bedroom once I get around to doing something about our bedroom, or heck, maybe window treatments in the dining room instead of window treatments in our bedroom...the options are endless. Our Master Bathroom is already sporting this color, so I was hoping to pull it into our bedroom as well, not just on the crappy Riley approved bedding we are using these days.

And to answer the burning question..."Leigh, did you find any fabric for your Swag Project?" You bet your blog reading tush I did...it was simple, boring, classy and on the remnants table for 50% off so I found myself spiking one in the end zone and breaking it down...I am about 50% of the way done with the Swag Lights, I hope to reveal this weekend!

Menu Monday: Hungry Girl

2012-01-09T10:27:00.001-05:00

I don't have a tried and true recipe to share this week, but I do have a few ideas that I wanted to throw out there to y'all, especially if you are trying to shed a few lbs, or just eat healthier. I am a big fan of Hungry Girl...she is real, she likes real food, she wants comfort food just as I do, but she finds amazing ways to slim down those recipes so that you can enjoy the same types of foods, at a fraction of the calories & fat. I also love that she is on top of the latest and greatest products out there, and is quick to point out new offerings such as Peanut Butter Cherrios,

I am a big fan of finding low fat and low calorie options that satisfy cravings so that I can avoid eating 43 Reese's Peanut Butter cups at 10pm on a Sunday Night...

So I thought I would share with you a recipe that I am planning to make at some point this week. I will review after I make them, but wanted to share with y'all ahead of time just in case you were dying for a new recipe to try (because of course the World Wide Web doesn't have any recipes).

Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas (I LOVE Mexican Food and need a lower fat alternative)
Makes 2 Servings (per serving - 252 calories, 3.5g of fat, 20.5g carbs, 2.25g fiber, 33g protein)
Ingredients:
1/4 cup chopped onion
6oz cooked and shredded boneless and skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup fat free shredded cheddar cheese, divided
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp green enchilada sauce, divided
2 large corn tortillas
Optional: fat free sour scream & chopped scallions (sour cream is NEVER optional for me, I could bathe in it)

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2) Spray a baking pan with nonstick spray and set aside
3) Bring a skillet sprayed with nonstick spray to medium-high head on the stove. Add onion, and cook until slightly browned, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a bowl
4) Add chicken to the bowl (containing the browned onions), 1/2 cup cheese and 2 tbsp enchilada sauce. Mix well and set aside.
5) On a microwave safe plate, heat tortillas in the microwave for 15 seconds, or until warm
6) Evenly distribute chicken mixture between tortillas. Wrap the tortillas tightly and place them in the baking pan with the seam sides down.
7) Pour remaining 1/2 cup enchilada sauce over the enchiladas. Bake in the oven until hot, about 10 minutes
8) Evenly sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup cheese over the enchiladas. Bake in the oven until cheese has melted, about 2 more minutes.
9) Allow to cool slightly. If you like, top with sour scream and scallions & enjoy!.

I will have to double this recipe (at least) to feed our family, but seems easy enough.Can't wait to give it a try! Such a tease, especially when Don Pepe Dollar Night is tonight!!! T-O-R-T-U-R-E!!!

Before & After: Love for Liv

2012-01-07T10:16:00.000-05:00

I thought Olivia's cute Pedestal Table was looking a little lonely and needed some love...so I got on Pinterest and looked for some inspiration and this is what I came up with, but needed to personalize it to fit her room...

Source

So I grabbed one of the cute white frames I procured for $7.99 at TJ Maxx a few months ago and started to brainstorm what I wanted it to look like and what I wanted it to say...the good news is, since I didn't spend a lick on the project I can change it out as often as I like and not feel an ounce of guilt.

And I grabbed some scrapbook paper I had and fired up the Silhouette and went to town...

Attempt #1 - Major FAIL...the paper is too busy and the font is too thin, you couldn't read it to save your life...

Attempt #2 - Minor Fail - paper is still too busy, despite fattening up the font a bit...

Attempt #3 - Minor Success - I changed the paper out, which helped a lot, but it still isn't exactly what I was looking for, but for now, it will serve the purpose of reminding that little girl (who can't read just yet), just how much she is loved every single morning when she opens those beautiful brown peepers of hers.

I think I might end up changing out the paper all together and finding a fun, lighter fabric to use, and then putting the vinyl on the glass part of the frame, I am worried the pink will be too much for the pink table, but for now it will show Liv the Love...

Before & After: Two Thrift Store Finds

2012-01-06T15:52:00.000-05:00

Back in July when my gal pal Kristen was in town we went to lunch at Feathernesters, I always find stuff in there that could just plop into my home and make it a happier place, and sometimes the price is just right and other times I get inspired to go out on my own and attempt to recreate the masterpiece. So I did just that when we came across a old "window" mirror...I couldn't justify the price tag for something I knew I could do on my own (with a little help from Brad, of course, we are a team!!)

Before:

It was $22 at Consignment Connection here in Richmond, out on Lakeside Avenue...

After 1 Coat of Spray Paint, a small piece of molding and some handiwork by the hubs...Ta-Da...

I believe I recreated this for under $25, which feels pretty darn good to me. Of course I probably could have snagged a legit window from Class & Trash for an even better bargain, but I have to start small, I don't have some of the skills necessary to bring things back to life, I like to just give them some life...

Second Up...a lonely ol' doll bed that I found on the very same day I scored the above mirror. It was originally close to $20, but it was 50% off at another Thrift Store on Lakeside so it came out to just under $10...

My Dad came through in a pinch and got to work on this beauty because I had been neglecting it during the fall months and didn't want the girls to see it around the Holidays since I had decided it would be a good present for Avery, with her passion for baby-dolls of course. Several coats of Spray Paint later this beauty was looking sharp...I added a simple piece of vinyl for her name and there you have it...a new doll bed for her babies.

The total cost for this beauty was under $20 and should have been even cheaper than that had the wood not soaked up all the spray paint...next step for this one is some bedding. My homeslice Molly (The Harris Happenings) is likely going to have to help me with that part of the project since I don't own a sewing machine...maybe I will go in search of some fabric this weekend, I have a few fabric needs on my mind...including:

1) Baby Doll Bedding Fabric

2) Leather Ottoman Cube Fabric

3) Roman Shades Fabric for the Morning Room, but this one is still up in the air, because I haven't decided what color I am going to repaint the walls. Maybe I will do a tour of the Morning Room on Tuesday so I can get some advice from ya'll since its in transition phase...

Five on Friday: 2012 Goals

2012-01-06T09:01:00.001-05:00

So for 2012 this is where my head and heart stand today...keep in mind, I actually haven't given this a ton of thought, and I even tossed around the idea about going month to month with my goals, and I still might, but wanted to put finger to key and document what I was thinking in the moment...

1) Prioritize quality time with my husband - unplug during the week, at least one night, no computers, snuggle and be present for each other, no competition for attention, just one on one time, and ensure that we get out for date night at least once a month. A happy couple makes for happier parents. And support him in all that he does, whether it be work or his cycling passion, I need to be a better support system for him, I expect support from him and I should be more than willing to give it in return.

2) Spend quality time with the girls - get on the floor and color with them, shut the TV off, and do a puzzle with them, play more games, tell them stories, read books, blast some music and bust a move like no one is watching. I want to be a part of creating memories they will tell their children about and I can't imagine "My Mom was the bomb at watching TV with me" is going to earn me any Grandma of the Year awards...

3) Be content - we don't need to keep up with the Joneses (no intended reference to my SIL and her family - ha!), we need to be content with what we have and who we are, and if there are things we would like to change, we need to understand why we want to change and if the change makes sense and is needed or wanted for the right reasons we need to prioritize and make smart decisions.

4) Nurture my friendships - life has happened and busy has gotten busier, the very last thing I want, is for my close friends to ever wonder how important they are to me. I tell the girls multiple times a day how much I love them, sometimes over and over again (firm believer that you can't over-do-it) and I hope that my friends know that if it wasn't creepy for me to do the same with them, I would be shouting it from the rooftops...I always want them to know how important our friendship is, and for them to know that I am always here for them should they ever need anything. Several of my close friends are expecting babies this year, some their first (so excited), some their second and some their third, and I am so happy for them, it actually brings me to tears.

The Girls & I running through the sprinklers...Summer 2010

5) Let it Go - live for the moment, let go of the past, stop stressing about the future, learn to let it go, and live for the now. This one is going to be a HUGE stretch for me. My control freak nature is already stressing about Olivia's 529 Plan and how much money its lost, but in the day to day life, I want to lay with the girls for a few extra minutes at night when they ask, and not stress about how many emails have collected since I left the office, or not worry about what is going on in the blog world, and what I've missed on Pinterest. I need to realize that all of those things will be there, and the time with the girls or with Brad is precious, I need to soak it all in while I can.

Wordy Wednesday: Motherhood

2012-01-04T10:34:00.007-05:00

Avery 2009

"When you are a mother, you are never really alone in your thoughts. A mother always has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child".

~Sophia Loren

Olivia - October 2009

This is one sentiment that I probably thought I understood before having a child, but holy smokes this ones hits you between the eyes several times a day as a Mom, sometimes its painful, because you make a decision that 4 years ago you would have bet money you would never have made, but other times it brings tears to your eyes that you are bigger than just individual decisions, that the choices you make impact others in a material way...some decisions are small, some large, some important and some trivial, but my decision making process has radically changed since having children, I go through at least three assessments...what is best for the girls, what is best for our family and what is best for me? And let's be honest, they don't always align, so then tough decisions are made. I wouldn't trade the new decision making lens I look through for all the Doritos in the world, it suits me just fine!!

Cookie Decorating Tips from Avery....

2012-01-04T09:46:00.001-05:00

#1 When possible pick a single cookie and see how many red hots you can get on it...

#2 And when you create a masterpiece of red hots, act surprised by your hidden talents...

#3 And if you want Mom to let you decorate cookies again use as many sprinkles as you can, because you know Mom LOVES sprinkles.

#4 Have as much fun as possible and make as big of a mess as possible, because Mommy will clean it up, and you can enjoy the finished product...

#5 Try the red hots BEFORE you put them on the cookies, because you might find out that you really don't like them at all, and now you have pick all 434 of them off the gingerbread cookie before you can eat it.

Home Tour Tuesday: Home Office...

2012-01-03T09:35:00.000-05:00

So this one is going to be a bit of a work in progress reveal because our Home Office isn't 100% finished just yet, but I have been putting off the big reveal for several weeks but I am throwing caution to the wind just this once and tearing off the first aid bandage (we can't say band-aid in our house, long story, but its a Brand Name and not the Brand that Brad sells, so the word has been banned.

When we first moved into our house in 2005 we had two "home offices", one for our home computer and desk, which resided in Olivia's current room, and the second was my "work from home" office, because when we first relocated to Richmond I was still working for Careerbuilder.com. My "work from home" office was on the third floor of our house, and was using the 5th Bedroom, take a peek...what a disaster, clearly this room was not photo ready when this was snapped, but you get the idea.

2005 - 3rd Floor Home Office

Office 2005 - 3rd Floor

I can't seem to find a photo of our first home office, but it quickly changed into a Nursery, so it never really took shape, it was always just a temporary location for our 2005 Dell Desktop...

Formal Living Room 2005

In December of 2010 we decided to add a wall between the Formal Living Room and Dining Room so that we could have a "Home Office" type area on the first floor of our house. When I moved to Capital One in September of 2006 we moved our "home office" onto the 3rd floor so we could make room for Olivia's Nursery, but we found that we just never made our way up there, it was too far out of the way, and so the first floor collected a lot of the "should be home office clutter", so the first floor home office was our solution and being that we had no need for a Formal Living Room (come on peeps, we are not formal people) we thought adding a wall and closing it off with French Doors would give us the type of space we were looking for.

View from the Foyer

We moved the Pottery Barn Bedford Furniture downstairs from the 3rd floor, grabbed a bookshelf from the 3rd floor and refinished it, added a swag light and then went to town on the decor...

Standing in the Doorway

The pile of stuff on top of his crate gives me heart palpitations...

We have high hopes of getting Riley's crate out of here, hopes that one day he will be able to roam the house free during the day without emptying his 25 gallon bladder on the Morning Room Hardwoods...I have big plans for that corner...I am going to cover one of our Red Club Chairs with a fun fabric, add a cute little table/dresser and ta-da, a reading area for me to sit and rummage through the lovely home decor magazines I drool over every single month, or laugh and cry while reading Parents magazine, or even better laugh it up while perusing People Magazine on Friday afternoons...can't wait for that day, but I am not holding my breath, we gave him a trial run for a week or so, thought we were close to declaring success and then it went downhill...we haven't given him a second try just yet...

Swag Light

You might notice that the swag light shade is upside down...up, that was a huge whoopsie daisy. I bought the wrong kind of shade, I need a "hard" shade, and didn't realize that until we hung it and the bulb hung below the bottom of the shade, and I had already covered the shade with the fabric, so there was no going back, I could have use the shade on another lamp, but I just wanted to be done with so we, Brad flipped the shade around and we called it a day.

I do happen to love my ribbon organizer to the side of the bookshelf though....

BEFORE...and what you can't see from the photo above is that the inside is painted Navy...you could see it, IF I wasn't using every single inch of space possible to cram our stuff into!

I am a big fan of the storage a bookshelf provides, but would rather the clutter be behind doors, so an option like the Ikea Hemnes Storage Options or the Billy Bookcase, which has the option to add doors. I am indebted to my darling hubs for partnering with me to finish the bookshelf so I can't imagine I am going to change it up anytime soon, but for other areas of the home that need storage, bookshelves with doors, suit my fancy.

Hemnes Storage Combination

Or even the Liatorp Bookcase Combination from Ikea

I still have a lot of organizing to do, some desk accessories to add and a few small touches to finish up, the curtains are being "touched up" a bit by our neighborhood seamstress, so I will reveal those in a separate post!

And under the desk, holy smokes, what a mess. But the good news is. I have seen a ton of ideas on Pinterest to corral all the cords, so that will be a simple task once I put the wheels in motion, just haven't added that to the list just yet.

I would say this room is 75% of where I would like it to be, still have work to do, but very happy with the progress and overly thrilled that we have a home office on the first floor of our house, makes a huge difference, I knock out some quick projects on the Silhouette while the girls play on the floor or even while they watch a movie in the other room...

My favorite part of the room is the "T" Wall...it was one of my first projects after finding my hobby and I am proud of the fact that months later I still really like it.

And this guy wants you to know that he digs the "T" wall too, he stares at it all day long and still has nothing but love for it.

Rugs need to be fused together...two rugs from Lands End $14.99 each

Menu Monday: Mashed Potatoes - Quick & Easy

2012-01-02T10:08:00.000-05:00

So while this one isn't going to win any awards and likely won't have my husband surprising me with jewelry at the thought of me serving it, these quick & easy Mashed Potatoes have added some serious pep in my side-preparing step...and who isn't looking for a quick alternative for a comfort food?

I whipped up a Ham dinner the other night when Brad's Parents were here, and with the other sides I was preparing I thought that Mashed Potatoes might compliment them well but I wasn't interested in peeling or chopping potatoes, so I thought about the Steam & Mash option from OreIda...I've used these in the past but only when I am making a casserole, I hadn't used them for just regular ol' Mashed Potatoes, but after Friday Night, you bet your bottom dollar I am going to keep a bag of these little puppies in my freezer...

You set the bag in the Microwave, set it for 10 minutes, let them steam, then you add 2/3 cup of Milk, we use Fat Free Milk, and then 2 tbsp of butter, I believe Brad added a little more butter, but I also thought about adding some sour cream, or cream cheese, or chives, or heck, even some bacon, the options are endless when the main ingredient only takes 10 minutes to prepare.

Give them a try, or at the very least when you are preparing a casserole give them the nod, it will say you a ton of time and the results are fantastic! I am guessing that most of the menus I share will be a little more labor intensive that this one, but lets be honest, I don't have a surplus of time on my hands, so I can imagine the majority of the recipes or meal ideas I share with you will be quick & easy, without quick or easy, they just aren't likely to happen more than once in this house...

Why Hello There 2012...

2012-01-01T14:37:00.001-05:00

You snuck up on me just a tad, but I am sure as heck glad you are here, every year I look forward to a fresh start, I am not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing, it just is what it is...in 2011 my theme was "being better", I had several areas of my life that I wanted to be better in, and several people I wanted to be better for, and I am not sure I knocked any of them out of the park, so for fun I am going to go through my 2011 "Resolutions" and grade myself...and then we'll get cracking on the 2012 Resolutions...

Being a better wife...making Brad feel special and loved everyday, even when he snores in my ear and I want to throttle him - Final Grade: B-, I made some progress, but it was a fourth quarter push, 3/4 of the year could have used some serious improvement...this one will be a do-over for 2012 for sure.

Being a better mother ...showing the girls every single day how they make my heart soar and world go round - Final Grade: C, this one tears at my heart strings, because I really did try, and I gave and still give almost all of me to being a good Mom, but this motherhood thing threw some curve-balls my way in 2011, ones that I hadn't had enough time to practice on, and without extra time to practice, or extra sleep/patience, I wasn't prepared to take on a new pitch...another repeat for the 2012 Season.

Being a better daughter ...just flat out being nicer and more patient with my parents. Final Grade: this one might as well just be pass/fail, and I would go with fail...good gracious. My Parents and I are similar in some ways, yet very, very different in others, and its hard to tell what causes the strain, the similarities or the differences, but I happen to be in the "its both" camp these days, so more work needs to be done in 2012 to show them that despite the fact that I lose my patience I am very thankful and grateful for who they are and everything they do for me and for my family, my girls would be lost without them.

Being a better friend. ..picking up the phone and actually hearing my friends voices instead of relying on modern technology to keep the friendship alive. Final Grade: B-, some progress was made, more phone calls in 2011 than in 2010, but still far from the target. I told my BFF in a card (yes I still hand write cards, and I don't think she has even received it yet, so this will likely beat the card to her) that we need to schedule a phone date 2X a month and put it on the calendar, there is no excuse why that can't happen. When we do catch up on the phone we can go on and on for hours, like we are sitting in the same room just chatting away, its the best feeling...

Being a better steward with our family money. ..knowing where our money goes and using that to inform a budget that will hopefully set up our savings for success. Final Grade: B, progress was made here, but probably a second half type of progress, I think that we were more conscious that in years past, I think that my new found ability to coupon helped a little, and I think the budget we put in place late in the year will set us up for success in 2012.

Being a better role model for my girls. ..eating healthy and getting in shape. I want to be here for years to come and I want to feel good and getting healthy is where it starts. Final Grade: B+, for the better part of the year I was knocking this one out of the park, but last quarter I lost some steam, but 2012 is a clean start, and we are all focused on reducing the # of snacks the girls eat and saving those calories for well balanced meals at the table, rather than snacks on the run.

Being better about work-life balance ...I need to set boundaries for myself and stick to them, I need to be as productive as I can be while I am at work and be as present as I can be while I am at home. I need to separate the work from my life as much as possible. Final Grade: B+, progress made here, most nights if given the choice I left my computer in my bag, never even turned it on. I wish I could have truly unplugged from the BB a little more, but it was nice to leave the computer in the bag several nights a week. There were a few times during the year where I was working in the early morning hours, but I never started work until the girls went to bed, so that made me feel better about the time I spent with them.

On Friday January 6th I will share my 5 Goals for 2012 in the Five on Friday post....

Merry Christmas To Me

2011-12-31T14:33:00.001-05:00

I just used some of my Christmas Money (doesn't that make me sound like I am 7 years old? Christmas Money - ha!) and I had to share my purchase with ya'll. I am beyond excited, not only that in a few short days will I get my paws on this magical machine, but that it was such a steal...check it out.


Amazon.com

A laminator, and it will be mine all mine in just 5-8 business days. (free shipping time) I can hardly stand it. I already have a list a mile long of labels that could use a little extra protection, but first up on my list is my Erin Condren Life Planner, the month tabs are starting to "fray" a bit and I would be just beside myself if that beauty didn't make it through all of 2012...so I have to do my part to protect those tabs so it goes the distance. I had been reading about the value a laminator brings to an organized home for the last several months, specifically from one of my favorite blogs IHeart Organizing, and I finally bit the bullet and caved. I hope that it brings me as much joy in real life as it does in Organization Envy (I have serious organization envy of other gals homes, its insane how goo-goo I go over organization tools). I can't wait to show you how it works just as soon as I have it in my excited little mitts.

Five on Friday: Memories & Moments of 2011

2011-12-30T23:15:00.001-05:00

2011...good gracious the year flew by. I can't even begin to capture the year in a single blog post the way several of the blogs I read have done, I am royally impressed they are able to pull it all together. I thought it would be helpful (for myself and the girls, when they are 45 and reading this) if I pulled together my Five Favorite Memories/Moments of 2011...this is stretching me out of my comfort zone, because I am going to do my best to make them MY Five Favorite, not OUR Five Favorite, which is going to also be a theme for 2012...not forgetting about ME, and while OUR/US/Family will always be #1, ME shouldn't be #4 or #5...

Halloween 2010

1) Losing Weight - this was a "big" one for me, no pun intended. But really focusing on eating right, and being healthy was a big focus for me for the better part of the year. It is no secret that the last few months of the year I threw the rule book out and ate my face off, but we are back on track now and 2012 is going to help me get closer to my goal weight. A lot of people focus on the # on the scale, and frankly when I say "goal weight", I don't have a specific number in mind, I want to get to a place where I am comfortable in my skin and my clothes and that when I look in the mirror I can smile and not want to cut my love handles off with the super duper sharp medical scissors we have in the bathroom drawer. I am utterly embarrassed by the photo above, but come on people, its no secret, I was not photo worthy a year ago and while I am not jumping in front of the camera, I am in a spot where I can stand to look at a photo of myself without throwing up in my mouth...just got a ways to go, but I am looking forward to the journey.

May 2011

December 2011

2) Finding a Hobby - I have been searching for a hobby for as long as I have known myself. I have always wanted a hobby, I have envied those with hobbies, and it wasn't until this year that I found a hobby that I can call my own. Being crafty and taking on home projects is my hobby and there are several things I love about it. I love that its about the hunt, that its about finding a great deal and turning a 2 into a 10. I love that I don't have to be married to it. If I need a break, I can take a break and nothing is going to fall apart, sure I might get a little anxious that I haven't knocked out a project in quite some time, but all in all, a break from this hobby isn't going to kill me, its easy to take a break from and I need a low pressure hobby like that, one that doesn't take over my life, one that just enriches it, and gives me something for me, something that I enjoy.

Wall Art for Olivia's Room

Bulletin Board for the Home Office

3) My Birthday Away - I love that my husband ~~FINALLY~~ planned something, and surprised me with a night away. I am the worlds biggest planner, and I happen to love traveling more than your average Joe, and for him to put two of my favorite loves together - planning & traveling, I could have just married him all over again - and I happen to love that we got to spend almost 2 days together focused on us, on us as a couple and us as two individuals, not just us as Parents. We have come to realize that if we are happy as a couple and as individuals, we are much happier as Parents, so for 2012 that is also going to be on our radar.

Room at the B&B

4) St. Jude Trike-a-Thon - this one just melts my heart. I love that Olivia got involved in something so great and I love that Brad and I took the day to support her while she rode her little pedal-free bike for the St. Jude's Family. Olivia still talks about St. Jude all the time, she sees the emblem in store windows and asks about the doctors and the kids at St. Jude, and she saw an ornament on the tree at her school from St. Jude and quickly pointed it out to me. I just hope that exposing her to the gift of giving at such a young age sets her up for many years to come of thinking of others and finding a way to give to those in need...we couldn't have been more proud of her. And we also couldn't have been more grateful to all our friends and family who supported her, I think that really cemented this as a special memory for me, I was floored by the support and encouragement our friends and family gave Olivia.

5) Irene & The Earthquake - while the damage we suffered pales in comparison to most, there was a split second during Irene from the time Brad yelled "She's going" (meaning the tree) to the time it hit the ground that I felt my world stop, I rushed for the girls, but it felt like I was moving in slow motion, I was rushing to ensure that if it came down on my house that it didn't come down on our precious beauties. I was frightened and then so very thankful in a wave of about 3 seconds, it is hard to explain those emotions. I felt similar ones during the Earthquake, once I realized what was going on, of course, but there was more fear because I wasn't with the girls, I couldn't reach them and confirm their safety, and then all the what if's started to play through my head, what if it didn't stop shaking? What if their school building came down on them? What if MY building came down on me? What if Brad was driving over a bridge when it started to shake and the bridge snapped in half...all of those what ifs went through my head, not immediately, but they did. Natural Disasters scare the ba-jeezes out of me, and I can't really classify either moment as a favorite, but the pure relief I felt when I realized the tree didn't hit our house, and simply just took out our fence. I didn't once complain about the clean up or the hassle of dealing with insurance, I was so incredibly thankful that we were all safe, that is all that mattered. P.S. Why don't they name Earthquakes the way they do with Hurricanes? And are hurricanes the only disasters that they do name? Odd, huh?

Next Friday - 5 Goals for 2012, not to be confused with New Years Resolutions, which will be shared hopefully this weekend. Feel free to join in the fun and post along with me...once I figure out this whole linky thing, I will set it up, if you have tips, let me know.

Jolly Ol' St. Nick Came...

2011-12-27T19:29:00.001-05:00

Cookies, Milk and the "Secret No Fireplace Santa Key"...

And he brought the thunder and the rain...these two girls sure must have been little angels all year long to have received so many wonderful presents from the Jolly Ol' Fella...

We had quite a hectic Christmas Eve, so our traditions got brushed to the side, and in the chaos called bedtime, we forgot to have the girls leave the cookies & milk out for Santa, but of course I couldn't let a tradition go all together, so I put the cookies out and snapped a few shots so I could show the girls the next morning...

And of course the next morning the cookies had been nibbled on and the milk was gone, and Santa had left the girls a letter...and the letter even included a report from Cameron the Elf, and Cameron had mentioned to the big guy just how loud and fussy bedtime is around here, but of course the girls didn't really get the hint...

This was the scene on Christmas Morning just before the girls came downstairs...I was chomping at the bit, I couldn't wait to see their reactions...

Olivia making her way down the stairs with my Mom, Avery and Brad on her heels...

Her reaction when she saw her new bike was priceless, I think Brad might have patted himself on the back for that one, her reaction was great.I have to admit, I was a little nervous. Our niece got a bike when she was about Olivia's age, and she didn't touch the thing for a few days, barely even glanced in its direction, I was so worried Olivia would have the same reaction and I was worried I would have to repair Brad's heart, but thankfully that didn't happen.

Avery loved her Daisy Duck, who now sleeps with her and accompanies her around the house...and she also seemed to be a big fan of her new doll bed (Huge Shout Out to my Dad on this one, I had every intention of finishing it myself, but ran out of time, so he sprayed it for me, and I finished it off with the vinyl)

We broke another tradition this year and skipped the breakfast casserole and just heated up some beyond delicious cinnamon rolls from Costco, but never fear, we didn't skip the Mimosa Tradition...

My Mom and I enjoyed our first sips around 8am - not too shabby eh?We didn't rush through presents this year, while the girls really enjoyed ripping into them, we took breaks to just enjoy each other and the day, we lounged around, played with toys and just enjoyed each others company...

We even took a break for a test "ride"...and Avery got in on the action too, she got to ride her "new" bike as well...

I have to give Brad some props...he wrapped my present and made the bow himself. When I spotted it, I immediately said "oh did your Mom make the bow?", and he was quick to point out that he did it all by himself - he was so proud! And you will note from the previous Five on Friday post that we don't exchange gifts...well, we both broke that a bit this year, the girls got him a new iPad cover-thingy and he bought me cowboy boots...YEE-HAW!!!

And my Parents got the girls LeapPads, which Olivia refers to as a "Kids iPad"...they haven't played with them too much just yet, so the jury is still out, but I just know they are going to love them, once they get the hang of them...they are so used to my iPhone and the iPad, but once we figure this bad boy out I imagine we will be cooking with gas!!! My Parents had a blast watching the girls open their presents, and the girls were kind enough to offer up their unwrapping talents to anyone that was willing to take them up on it...as you can see from the photo below. Avery is helping me unwrap a new dress from Boden (Thanks Mom!)

Normally we head to Brad's Parents house around nap time on Christmas, but Shannon (Brad's Sister)'s kiddos were sick, fevers and all, so I didn't want to chance it, so we are still here, in Richmond, hoping that Brad's Parents can join us for a day or two later in the week. We missed being able to visit with them, but are thankful that we got to spend time with Shannon & Family over Thanksgiving.

PS: My favorite gift the girls got, was their new craft table - it makes a world of difference in the morning room - I can't wait to do a home tour of the morning room...maybe in a week or two, we have a project going on right now that will reside in there.

Home Tour Tuesday: Dining Room...

2011-12-27T15:48:00.000-05:00

Here is our Dining Room in 2005 when we moved in...contractor white on the walls, but new furniture and a new area rug.

I love our China Hutch, but I so badly wanted the larger one, but the room just wouldn't allow it

The photograph on the far wall is one of Raleigh, North Carolina, Brad took it when he was living there, I had it blow up and framed for him for an Anniversary Present - he has even sold a few, its a great shot.

And then we had the room painted in 2006, it was actually one of the first rooms that we had painted. I fell in love with the color after visiting my SIL in Georgia, they have this color in their home and I just loved it. While I still very much like the color, my taste is going more towards gray, and less towards the warm colors, but this color now makes up about 85% of our house, so I am going to learn to live with it for many more years to come. Once we finally bit the bullet and had the 2 story foyer painted, that was the nail in the coffin, this color isn't going anywhere, anytime soon, but since the dining room is fairly contained now, thanks to the new all, we could mix it up in there just a bit....

And then Brad added picture frame molding while I was in Manila in 2010...and then in December 2010 we put a wall up to close off the former formal living room, which is now our home office.

And last but not least, we painted below the chair rail and added a gallery wall...

I wish the room was a little larger, we have a fantastic, beautiful table but it rarely gets a chance to breath, and heck, who am I kidding, it rarely gets any company, outside of Birthday Cake Cutting ceremonies.

I plan to recover the chairs and add some new window treatments at some point in 2012, but other than that, this room is basically complete, unless of course, we decide to change the paint color, but I am fairly certain that won't be anytime soon, there are several other projects I would prioritize over changing the paint color in the dining room. I can't decide if the fabric will be soft and subtle, with just a touch of color, maybe a pale teal or blue, or whether I will attempt to work in some other colors, or heck, maybe even just go white? Would you really put white on your dining room chairs? I guess I could protect the fabric? Thoughts? I am slightly obsessed with white these days, so that is in the running for sure.

Menu Monday: Nutter Butter Balls

2011-12-26T11:37:00.001-05:00

Growing up one of my favorite activities was sneaking downstairs at Pattie Jo's house to grab a few extra peanut butter balls, holy smokes, those delectable balls of peanut butter, covered in chocolate were heaven sent, and try as I might, I haven't been able to reproduce quite the same taste, despite using the trusty recipe, so you could say that I gave up, and went in search of another peanut butter - chocolate recipe that would satisfy my taste buds...and while I didn't knock it out of the park on the first try, these little beauties have a lot of potential...and most importantly, they are EASY!

Similar to the Mint Oreo Cookie Balls...you need:

1 Package (8oz) of Cream Cheese, softened
24 Nutter Butter Cookies, finely crushed, about 3 cups (I used the whole package, whoops)
2 Package (6 sqs each) Bakers Semi-Sweet Chocolate, melted (microwave)
Peanut Butter - I used JIF

What to do:

1) Crush the Nutter Butter Cookies, I used the food processor, and it basically gave me cookie dust...a little chunkier might have been better.

2) Mix Cream Cheese with ~~Cookie Dust~~, finely crushed Cookies. I ended up throwing in several spoon fulls of peanut butter because there was so way the cream cheese was going to get the job done, next time I plan to use less cookies and even more peanut butter.

3) Shape into 1 inch balls, place on wax paper and freeze for 10 minutes, or if you live where its cold enough, just set them outside for a bit. (I actually skipped this step since it was 70 degrees the day I did it and you bet your bottom dollar I didn't have a lick of space in the freezer to cool these pups off)

4) Melt Chocolate & mix in 1/4 cup peanut butter, dip balls in mixture and return to wax paper. Refrigerate for an hour. Keep in the fridge

These beauties were delicious, and I just know next time they will be even better. We enjoyed sampling them while we went in search of Tacky Christmas Lights on Friday December 23rd.

Merry Christmas 2011

2011-12-25T22:58:00.000-05:00

We had to wake Olivia this morning...might be the last time that happens, but judging by some FB posts from some friends several little ones had to be woken up this morning. My Parents were parked outside our house for 30 minutes, didn't want to call for fear they would wake us, now who was more excited? The Grandparents or the Grandkids? Judging by the time everyone woke up, my guess is, the Grandparents! Which I happen to think is adorable! Our plans to travel to Bassett this afternoon were cancelled due to some sick Jones kiddos, we just couldn't risk exposing our little ones to their high fevers and coughs. We hope to see Brad's Parents later this week, I know the girls are in need of some Bina & PawPaw lovin'.

We hope that ya'll had a wonderful day with your family & friends. I always get a little sad/homesick this time of year, missing "home" and all my friends in the 413 (area code for those not familiar). The Holiday Season just reminds me of being at home, but more and more Richmond is feeling like "home", so I can imagine that sadness will fade as the years go by, but it doesn't mean I don't miss all my family and friends at home, I've got nothing but love for them and their beautiful families. Merry Christmas from ours to yours...

Cookies for Santa...Wine for Me

2011-12-24T15:46:00.000-05:00

Five on Friday: Santa Lists

2011-12-23T11:36:00.000-05:00

I thought I would share with you the top Five Things on all of our lists this year...

Olivia's List from School...

Olivia:
1) A Piano/Keyboard
2) Some Shirts
3) A kids iPad (aka LeapPad)
4) A present for Mommy
5) Coloring Paper

Olivia's Letter to Santa

Avery's List from School

Avery:
1) A doll
2) A doll house
3) A hat
4) Shoes
5) Stuffed Animals

Avery's Letter to Santa

Brad:
1) A new Mountain Bike
2) A coffee bean grinder
3) A new Mountain Bike
4) A new Mountain Bike
5) A new Mountain Bike

Leigh:

1) Red Flannel Shirt - this one is from Lands End (one of my favorite stores on the planet), but I have seen several cute ones on Pinterest, but can't seem to find the right pattern in the stores.

2) Hunter Rain Boots

3) North Face Rain Jacket - all I care about is that it isn't black or brown, I want a color.

4) Coach - Poppy - this perfume is just lovely (I have a hard time using the word lovely, it just doesn't fit my personality, but it seemed to fit in this instant).

5) Leopard Print Flats - I have seen a few on people that I really like, but haven't seen any in person while shopping that have jumped there way into my closet, so for now I will just think about these precious JCrew flats...

I am fairly certain I will go 0 for 5 on my list since I didn't really tell anyone about these wants, this is likely the first my family is hearing about them, and since Brad and I don't exchange gifts for Christmas, I am thinking these will be helpful hints for him for my Birthday which is in March. (hint, hint, hint).

Teacher Gifts 2011

2011-12-22T10:06:00.000-05:00

Lemon Sugar Scrub

With gift tags made from a template found on Pinterest

The recipe is easy-peasy. You just take white sugar, non-smelly oil (I used a combination of canola and olive) and extract or essential oils, mix it all together and there you have it. You can mix the sugar and oil together and divide it out and then add the scent of your choice. I made a batch for some of the gals I work with and I used peppermint extract and for the girls teachers I used lemon.

I have a few little things to put with these, like an ornament the girls picked out, etc but for the most part this is the crux of their gift and it was super easy, not to mention affordable.

From Ours to Yours...

2011-12-22T09:53:00.000-05:00

Wordy Wednesday: ELF

2011-12-21T09:48:00.000-05:00

If you haven't seen this movie, holy smokes, you are missing out. There are some hilarious quotes in this movie that regardless of how many times I watch it, I end up keeled over laughing my face off. Here are a few of my favorites:

"I just like to smile, smiling's my favorite"

"He's an angry elf"

"I thought maybe we could make ginger bread houses, and eat cookie dough, and go ice skating, and maybe even hold hands"

I could go on and on, it is a FUNNY movie, if you haven't seen it, plunk yourself down on the couch with a bowl of popcorn (or Doritos if they are your thing) and be prepared to laugh.

Menu Monday: Mint Oreo Balls

2011-12-19T15:24:00.000-05:00

I wish I had legit photos of the process, because it really was simple, but since I didn't document it well last night I thought I would just share what they look like as a finished product...

Ingredients:
1 Package of Cool Mint Oreos - crushed
1 Package of Cream Cheese - softened
2 Packages of Semi-Sweet Bakers Chocolate (12 squares) - melted
Sprinkles

What to do:
1) Crush Oreos - food processor is helpful, you want them finely crushed
2) Mix Oreo crumbs with Cream Cheese
3) Layer Cookie Sheets with Wax Paper
4) Roll Mixture into balls - close to 48 of them, place on Wax Paper
5) Freeze (or put outside if you live where its cold enough) for 10 minutes so they are firm enough to roll in melted chocolate
6) Melt Chocolate Squares in the microwave until smooth
7) Roll cookie balls in the melted chocolate until covered
8) Sprinkle with Sprinkles
9) Place in Fridge for at least an hour - keep refrigerated.

Easy & Delicious - great gift to throw in a box, tastes great. I love recipes with 3-4 ingredients!!

Wrap it Up

2011-12-18T22:43:00.000-05:00

I spent the afternoon wrapping presents and watching two tear jerkers (Life As We Know It and The Family Stone) while the girls napped at my Parents house and Brad rode 30 miles in the freezing cold. While I would have loved to nap with the girls I had a fantastic afternoon to myself wrapping presents and watching movies. I actually love wrapping presents, weird, I know, most people dislike it, but I usually blast Christmas Carols, drink some Egg Nog and wrap until my back feels like its going to give out, today I opted for Girl Movies and it didn't disappoint.

I love the classy polka dot look

I have a small obsession with wrapping paper, so I thought I would share with you a few of my favorites that I have seen on the World Wide Web. We use to have a blue & silver theme thing going on with all things Christmas in our house and I tried to keep that theme going with the wrapping paper, but since we have integrated all colors into our Christmas Decor I just go nuts with wrapping paper, which leaves me free to snatch up the good deals when I see them. My favorite places for wrapping paper bargains have been after Christmas sales at Michaels, Black Friday sales at JoAnn Fabrics and I covet all the glorious wrapping paper I see while strolling the aisles of Target, but I haven't procured any from ~~heaven~~ Target just yet, other than the small rolls I have snagged from the $1 section, which happen to be the perfect size for stocking gifts, and they are easy to use, the selection this year has been dreary, but the last two years were outstanding.

More Dots, I love me some Polka Dots

I have failed to find gift tags that I love at an affordable price. I wrap so many presents that I can't justify the nice fold over tags, I usually go with the sticker variety, but I always find myself disappointed, and of course I always end up choosing a red sticker to go on a red package, and it ends up looking horrible. What kind of gift tags do ya'll use? I keep thinking that I should make them next year with my Silhouette and I am seriously considering it, using card stock, and my beloved sharpies to whip on some beauties...but that might be asking too much considering how many presents I wrap. I don't put gift tags on the stocking presents, but still...it is a lot.

I have seen several varieties that bring in shades of pink and I happen to love it

I have seen several styles that include writing or Holiday Language and I also love them

Here is another example with writing that I happen to adore


www.nashvillewraps.com

And I always need to find a cute Santa paper to use for the Santa gifts - this one isn't my favorite, but its one of the cuter ones I found online at Nashville Wraps

I try and find "adult" wrapping paper for our Parents gifts and I try and use kid-like wrapping paper for the girls gifts. Some of my favorite wrapping paper growing up was Mickey Mouse Christmas Paper and I found some this year for the girls gifts, so I used some of that on the 24 Days of Christmas Gifts that I brought to Disney World with us. This year some of Avery's presents are wrapped in Dora paper and I have another roll of Dora left for next year.

Target Wrapping Paper - looks very similar to a Michael Miller fabric I love

Love Ornament Type wrapping paper too

Where do ya'll usually find your wrapping paper? I am going to do my best to NOT procure any wrapping paper in the after Christmas Sales, but I can't make any promises. I am going to do my best to organize all the supplies after I am done wrapping, I haven't nailed the organizational solution just yet, but its my goal for the New Year. I won't be able to wrap in the open 3rd floor area next year, the girls start to snoop around, so it will have to be more organized and buttoned up next year. I love an organizational challenge - please share your secrets.

1985 Called...

2011-12-17T21:54:00.003-05:00

A Paper Chain (they might be called something else in the world outside of my brain, but for now, they are just simply a Paper Chain), I seriously haven't made one of these since 1985 and I am kicking myself for missing out all these years. The girls and I put on some Christmas Tunes and went to work on a Paper Chain for our Family Christmas Tree.

I used some paper I had purchased light years ago and so the project was essentially free. We have been a crafting machine here in the Turner Household. I went a little nutty and procured some craft supplies from Oriental Trading and the girls have been having a blast.

Olivia is always asking to do another craft project, so I feel like Mom of the Year now that I actually have supplies to make the craft projects happen. I used to have to improvise before, and probably will when the Holidays are over and I am out of seasonally appropriate crafts. I guess I should consider looking into non-Christmas craft suppliers.

I have found hundreds of craft ideas on Pinterest, one of my goals for the New Year is to spend time on the weekends doing crafts and things like that with the girls, they love it, and it helps me focus on quality time with them rather than running around trying to get the laundry done, etc.

More Jeni Dwyer Love...

2011-12-17T21:51:00.000-05:00

This captures Avery perfectly...

My Beauties and I...

Family Silly Shot - I always love it when people pull off fun, silly shots. It didn't execute quite like I imagined it would, but I love it.

I give Jeni mad props for her work while we were on the swings - there are some great shots at very cool angles.

Precious Avery...

Olivia jumping and catching some major air...

My Love & I...

Five on Friday: Disney Highlights

2011-12-16T11:33:00.000-05:00

I can imagine you were sick with worry, just up in arms about where I have been...(I am clearly joking, I know the lovely 22 followers that I have made it through the week just fine without me). I am always torn about blogging while we are away, letting the world know we are gone, and the house is empty, even though I know our neighbors watch our house like a hawk (Molly will call at 10pm if I have left a candle burning - love her) AND we have a super duper security system that actually snaps photographs every single day and sends them to our phones, love that feature.

Today I thought I would share my Five Favorite Moments of our Family Vacation to Walt Disney World. We left on Saturday morning bright and early and arrived home yesterday late in the day. My Parents joined in the fun - a huge thank you to them for making it happen. The girls had a blast!! It was stressful for us adults, and the girls didn't get a lot of sleep, so lets just say that Avery left her best behavior at home. It will likely be several years before we go back...IF we go back. But looking back at the photos has helped me realize that we did have fun, I wish I would have had a better attitude about it while we were there.

1) Cinderella's Castle - all beautified for the evening shows, seeing the girls reaction was priceless. We had been talking about seeing Cinderella's Castle to get them pumped for the trip, so this was top of their list.

Notice the Characters on the Stage...

2) The Parades - we saw the Electrical Parade our first night and it was fantastic. It allowed the girls to see all the characters from a distance so as to not get overwhelmed. And then we also had tickets for the Very Merry Christmas Party, which included another great Parade, but this one was Christmas Themed. The girls loved watching the Parades, waving to the characters and chowing down on popcorn or cotton candy.

Our First Night

Christmas Parade

Avery enjoying the yummy Popcorn (Snack on Dining Plan)

Olivia & YaYa just before the Christmas Parade started

Olivia chowing down on Popcorn

3) Character Breakfasts and Lunch - we had breakfast at Chef Mickey's and also at 1900 Park Fare and then had lunch at Cinderella's Castle with all the Princesses. I have fond memories of dining with Chip & Dale and Mickey when I was a kid so it was important for me that the girls also had the same memories, however, what I didn't factor in was their immense fear of Characters whose faces they cannot see. So it was hit or miss, but towards the end of the week they were pros and I was impressed with how far they came in the fear department.


The Girls with Belle


With Ariel


At Chef Mickey's

With Alice in Wonderland at 1900 Park Fare

4) Fireworks while Riding Dumbo - the timing was perfect. We were riding Dumbo during the Fireworks Finale one night and we couldn't have asked for a better spot to view those sparklers from. It was picture perfect.

5) VIP Family at Disney Junior Live - the girls had been talking all week and leading up to the trip about seeing Jake and the Neverland Pirates and so we specifically set out bright and early to get to Hollywood Studios to ensure we caught one of the shows. We ended up being first in line and were selected to be the VIP Family, which entitled us to a card signed by all the Disney Junior Stars, our pick of seats and we also had to open the doors by saying some magic words.

Meeting Jake - Olivia was starstruck, she couldn't stop bouncing around

Handy Manny

A bonus moment - just being silly with the girls at Epcot after a delicious dinner at Teppan Edo...

Next Week's Topic will be Five Christmas List Items...

Five on Friday: Holiday Traditions

2011-12-09T17:41:00.000-05:00

I can imagine that over the years you have reflected on what made Holidays so special in your house, or as you blended Holidays with your spouses family you married your favorite Holiday traditions with those that made his Holidays ones to write home about as well. I remember growing up, I thought that the way my family did it was the bees knees, but now that we have a family of our own we are making some of our own traditions, but you will see that a lot of my favorites started from my own childhood holiday memories.

1) PJ's & Christmas Lights - for the last few years we have dressed the girls in their Holiday PJ's on December 23rd, packed them up in the car and we've gone in search of Christmas Lights. This year we plan to add some cookies to the mix and maybe even some luke warm hot chocolate in fun mugs. This is one that has gotten a lot easier and more exciting as the girls have gotten older. We belt out the Christmas Tunes and tour our lovely city in a quest to find the tackiest lights display. As a kid there was always this one house that we would visit, the cars would circle and people would get out and check out the display, it was serious business. It was sad when that family moved...

2) Reindeer Dust & The Koehlers - we have celebrated Christmas Eve with our dear friends the Koehlers for the last few years and it has been great, the kids have a blast, the adults watch the kids play while fitting in a few adult conversations and then to cap off the night we all head outside to sprinkle reindeer dust to ensure that Rudolph knows where to land the sleigh. I can imagine if we keep this one up, it will be a tradition for years to come, even if we move, I can imagine we will get together on Christmas Eve, I can see Zack and Olivia as college students coming home and still having Christmas Eve dinner together, that is what traditions are all about.

3) Christmas Morning - this one is a no brainer, I can imagine everyone has great memories of Christmas Morning, of seeing their gifts for the first time, but I just loved the way my parents made such a production out of it. I had to wait in my room, they had to make the coffee, throw some wood on the fire, check to see if Santa had come (even when I was in college, they had to check) and then they would release me, and I would go RUNNING down the hall to see the tree for the first time, surrounded by presents.

Christmas Eve 2010

Prior to Christmas Morning there was never a single present under our tree, except for maybe presents for friends or from other people, but all the presents to be opened on Christmas Morning wouldn't appear until after I had gone to bed on Christmas Eve, so it was such a surprise to see all the packages wrapped up when I rounded the corner on Christmas Morning (in a full sprint). We do something similar with the girls, one of us comes down stairs, makes such that Santa came, gets their cups of milk ready, and stands ready with the camera while the other one helps the girls down the stairs after the all clear has been given. I love seeing their faces, watching their eyes light up at the sight of the tree and all the presents.

Christmas Morning 2010

4) Giving - I have mentioned this a few times already this season, but we are really trying to focus some family energy on giving to others in need and talking a lot about how good it feels to give onto others. We hope that this tradition continues to grow and that the girls start to understand the power of a gift. I am still waiting to hear back from the Country Peacemakers, the group of quilters that made Avery's NICU quilt, our hope was to donate some fabric or at least a gift card to a fabric store so they could continue their mission to provide quilts for other little ones in need of a cheerful quilt.

5) Ornaments & Shopping - every year the girls and I are going to go out to lunch and go shopping for an Ornament and for a present for their Daddy. We haven't officially started this one yet despite the fact that I have procured several ornaments for each of them over the last year, but I plan for us to start this year, I am looking forward to a morning of just us girls. My Dad and I had a similar tradition growing up, from the time I was teeny tiny, he would pick me up from school and we would spend a day shopping for my Mom, just him and I. We would have lunch and sometimes dinner and we would shop until we dropped. We have gone every single year, even now, he and I head to Williamsburg for a day of shopping, just us. I looked forward to that trip every year, I hope the girls feel the same way when they are 30+ years old.

Angels We Have Heard On High

2011-12-09T15:57:00.000-05:00

Avery, Olivia & Alyssa

Can you believe it? Our two little beauties starred as Angels tonight at their Pre-School Christmas Program. Olivia played the part of Gabriel and Avery was an Angel. Avery was the youngest in the program by almost 6 months, it was so special to us that they both got to participate in the show this year, under normal circumstances they wouldn't have been able to since Avery shouldn't have moved up to the 3 year old classroom until March, but thankfully her early move helped facilitate this special night.

I had to chuckle when they told me that Avery would also have a part, and that it would be an Angel...ironic since most of the time we call her anything BUT an Angel. And one of the teachers approached my Mom after to comment about how well Avery's halo stayed on...her quote was "Wow, those horns sure kept that halo in place" nice huh?

Olivia has been looking forward to this program for several weeks, they start practicing the songs around Halloween, so its been a long time coming.

And as a family, we represented well. Of course my Parents were there, but Brad's Parents drove up for the night to support the girls and get a small dose of pure entertainment. I love that the girls had all four of their Grandparents here to show their love and support. We didn't get a single photo of the girls with their Grandparents and I always get so disappointed when I miss opportunities like that, but they rushed the girls back into the school to get them changed, so I am hoping the teachers captured some good photos of them together in costume, because these horrible snap shots are from our Flip.

Bless Jeni Dwyer & Jeni Dwyer Creative

2011-12-07T17:50:00.001-05:00

Can't get enough of this photo - can't you tell?

Not only is my gal pal Jeni Dwyer a top notch friend, she happens to be one of the most talented people I know. This girl can photograph with the best of them, her graphic design skills are for the record books and you combine the two talents and you have a fantastic one-two punch. She owns Jeni Dwyer Creative and you can find her at www.jenidwyercreative.com. She has created some beautiful birthday invites over the last few years...

You can choose from her already beautiful designs and just make it yours, or you can give her an idea and let her go to town, I promise you won't be disappointed, and one of the things I love about Jeni, is that she is so easy to work with. She is so passionate about her work, so grateful she gets to be creative day to day and she wants her clients to be thrilled with their finished product, so she will work with you to get it just right.

I can't wait to show you more of her talents...our holiday card is almost done, but this is just a sneak peak of what my girl Jeni can do. If you have a party coming up, or a baby to announce you can't go wrong with Jeni.I can't wait to reveal our 2011 Holiday Card. As soon as they are in the homes of our friends & family ya'll will get a look.

Wordy Wednesday: My Love

2011-12-07T09:14:00.000-05:00

I bought this card for Brad for the Holiday Season and I just had to share it with you, its simple and the words just make sense.

"My Love - We are here to give, to receive, to dream, to sing, to support, to challenge, to travel, to slow down, to share, to be together. We are here to love"

24 Days of Christmas

2011-12-06T10:49:00.000-05:00

So as a kid we chose Secret Santa's at our house, and that meant during the month of December you had to do something nice for your Secret Santa, or surprise them with a little gift for 24 days. Some days that meant you made their bed, other days you put a chocolate bar on their pillow. I have taken that tradition, which I loved by the way and morphed it a little bit for our family...maybe one day we will get back to the true Secret Santa tradition, but now that the girls are small, we make the 24 Days of Christmas about them, and we do something special as a family, such as movie night with popcorn, or they get a small gift, such as a Christmas Book to share, or we do something nice for them, like make them cookies, or even better, do a Christmas Craft project together.

Christmas Craft Time with Campbell (and Brian)

One of our little Elves (from the Christmas Ornament Post) helps us keep track of what day we are on, and the girls and I move him every single day.

I worry that it will spoil them, and they won't appreciate the magic of the month, BUT I had a VERY proud Mommy moment last night. At dinner I gave the girls a choice, I told them they could choose a present OR we could have movie night as a family, and you bet your bottom dollar they filled my heart and chose family movie night (which ended up being a bust, but the thought was there).

And I am not afraid to use this little guy to encourage good behavior during this Holiday Season....

I was beyond proud. It is one of those moments you hope you witness more and more of as they grow up, them making the right choice, them holding the door for a little old lady, because they would want someone to hold the door for their YaYa or their Bina, or them bending down to help a Mother who is trying to carry two children but just dropped her entire purse, those gestures and moments are the ones you hope for as a Mom, that you have raised children that have compassion and do the right thing...

Menu Monday: BLT Dip

2011-12-05T10:48:00.000-05:00

I can't pretend that I whipped this up, because that would be a large fabrication of the truth, in fact we didn't even dine on this divine goodness at our Annual Tacky Sweater Party, but only because I didn't have the fresh ingredients on hand that I needed to make this a reality...next party, this is on like Donkey Kong...

This recipe can be found at The Girl Who Ate Everything or Betty Crocker. This is what you call party food at its best. And of course, don't forget, Bacon makes EVERYTHING better.

Ingredients:

1 cup mayonnaise

1 lb of bacon, cooked, crisp

1cup sour scream

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1.5 cups cheddar cheese

1 tomato, seeded and chopped

1/4 cup chopped green onions

Additional green onions, cooked bacon, tomato and lettuce for garnish (I think I would leave the lettuce off).

Step 1:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Step 2:
Mix mayonnaise, sour cream, and cream cheese in a bowl until thoroughly combined. Crumble bacon into mixture and stir. Add cheddar cheese, green onions, and tomato and mix well. Pour into a shallow dish or pie pan and bake for 20 minutes or until bubbling. Garnish with additional green onions, tomato, and crumbled bacon. Serve with Fritos.

Enjoy!!!!

Holiday Printables: 12 Days of Christmas

2011-12-05T10:37:00.000-05:00

I am obsessed, I can't stop downloading Holiday Printables. I have scoured the world wide web in search of all things printable and the holiday ones are fantastic. Talk about a super cute, affordable way to deck the halls (and your home) for the holidays. I love that I can use the same frame all year round and just change out the printables to keep up with the season...

I just stumbled across A Simply Klassic Home , and this gal just delivered a Christmas Gift early...12 Days of Christmas Printables - can you believe it? I am in printable heaven. Take a look, and enjoy!

I have also found some great ones from eighteen25 as well and I love all the Keep Calm prints I've seen, such as this one from Craftily Ever After:

and this Keep Calm & Merry On one from The Peters Family

Tacky Goodness...living the Tacky Life

2011-12-04T20:47:00.000-05:00

Sweets Table

Our Annual Tacky Sweater Party was on Saturday, so I did some baking and preparing of foods on Thursday and Friday because I could feel a cold/sinus infection coming on and I wanted to make sure that even if I felt awful our guests would have something to chomp on while they got their Tacky On. Don't worry, I washed those hands over and over and over again. Well it was a good thing I prepared ahead of time...I felt worse as the night went on. A few rounds of Just Dance 2 (that I won, btw) and I was done, I could barely talk, I sounded quite a bit like JaRule and I was worn out, and I believe the clock hadn't even struck 10 yet. (Lame)


Love the Cheese Marker - thanks to Jeni :)

And of course, it wouldn't be a party without Meatballs and Buffalo Chicken Dip...


Jeni made these delicious pretzel rods - the girls ate them up!

This guy even got in the festive spirit...check out that Sweater - he won the top prize this year.

And funny, yet sad story. There is a small home across the street, and a few doors down that has been on the market and vacant for probably over a year, the couple got divorced and the house was being foreclosed on, so fast forward to Friday - I am working remotely and Brad calls to tell me to look outside, there is a police car and several other cars parked out front, and the house is being emptied onto the front lawn, sad, huh? Well then fast forward again to Saturday Night. We had been joking all day that we should be rummaging through the pile for any treasures that I could spray paint, so once we were all decked in our Tacky attire we set out with flash lights to take a peek. Turns out there was a fantastic label maker in the pile and Molly snagged it, lucky gal. So she put it to work...

DOG

You can't tell from this photo, but she also managed to label herself and Insley, non-prego and prego respectively. Congrats to Insley, btw. Nice silly straw touch, Molly.

Insley, Jeni, Moi & Molly

This year Insley & Molly didn't even plan on being twins - how funny is that. Molly & I were shopping over Thanksgiving weekend, stumbled across these adorable Christmas Nightgowns at Target, looked at the price tag and realized they were a bit out of our Tacky Sweater Clothing Budget, so we did the next best thing...we stopped at Walmart and found these gems. I paired mine with black leggings and boots and I have to admit, it was a comfy outfit, one that transitioned well to sleep as well.

Brian got some compliments from the cashier at Walmart, she fancied his sweater vest and thought she was going to pick one up too...too bad she wasn't going to be wearing it to a Tacky Sweater Party, she was going to wear it with pride. Bless her!

This is the only time the three of us ever get our photo taken together, we need to fix that...

Five on Friday: Christmas Ornaments

2011-12-02T08:50:00.000-05:00

Growing up every year around the holidays, my Mom used to take me to Yetters (a store/florist in a neighboring town) to pick out a tree ornament. I looked forward to that trip every single year and I hope to start a tradition like that with the girls, maybe this year is the year to kick it off, I can't wait to see what they pick out. But today I wanted to share with ya'll my Five Favorite Tree Ornaments. Some of these are from my childhood, others I have purchased along the way for our family and some I have bought to help start the girls own ornament collections. I hope that by the time the girls leave the house they each have a box full of ornaments to decorate their own trees.

1) Mickey Mouse Merry Christmas Ball - 1980 - this just makes me smile, smile because we are taking the girls to Disney this year and it makes me smile to think about only being a year old when we put this on our Worden family tree for the first time.

2) Baby's First Christmas 2009 Pea Pod - I bought this one for Avery, for her first Christmas. Olivia has several ornaments on the tree, she came first and naturally we went a bit overboard with "Olivia" ornaments before Avery came around so Avery is in catch-up mode, but this one just has a special place in my heart. It is sweet and makes me remember the days when Avery was a little bitty thing.

3) Handmade Christmas Tree - Brad's Mom gave me this ornament at one of my bridal shower's, one of her close friends threw me a Christmas Themed Shower and she wrapped up this ornament and when I opened it I got all teary, it was an ornament Brad had made when he was just a wee little tyke.

4) Elf Ornaments - these remind me of my Grandparents. My Dad's Parents had a few Elves that they hid around the house on Christmas Morning and as the only Grandchild it was my duty to find all the Elves, every year it got more difficult. A few years ago my Parents found these Elf Ornaments that reminded me and them of the Worden Elves, which are now being hidden at my Parents house for the girls to search for.

5) Fenway Ball - this one just reminds me of home, good ol' Fenway Park, home of the Red Sox, and so much of my childhood was spent watching the Red Sox and keeping score during the games while I watched them on TV. And I happen to think that this ornament is very pretty!!!

I can imagine my favorites will change over the years, the girls are starting to bring home some handmade ornaments from school and I can imagine they will make the list next year. What are your Five Favorite Ornaments?

Next Weeks Five on Friday topic will be Five Christmas/Holidays Traditions

About Giving...

2011-12-01T09:50:00.000-05:00

Don't mind the facial expression - how embarrassing.

Every year we try and do little things to show the girls that the Holiday Season is more so about giving than it is about receiving, and that since we are fortunate to have a home, and two jobs, it is our duty to give to others that don't have the fortunes that we have been blessed with.

This year we donated a meal around Thanksgiving time through their Pre-School just like we did last year through Church and for Christmas I grabbed two angels off the Angel Tree at work for us to shop for. I purposely chose two little girls, age 5 and age 6 and they both wanted a bike, so I thought it would be pretty cool to get them a bike. At Capital One we do a TON for the Angel Tree, last year on the pick up day I would guess we had a few hundred bikes lined up to load onto the truck, and it gave me the chills thinking about all those little faces on Christmas Morning...so I figured this would be a good year to do our part.

This photo above was taken as I was running to a meeting and this is just a fraction of the loot from one of our 8 buildings, so you can imagine what it will all look like tomorrow when the truck comes. Makes me all warm and fuzzy thinking about it. I hope that year after year we give more, and that the girls see the power in giving, if we can give that gift to the girls we will be doing something right.

Tree Trimming...

2011-11-30T09:20:00.000-05:00

This year the girls and I put up the tree on Sunday Morning while Brad was out for a ride. The tree itself had been up for a few days but we had yet to trim it. It was a hoot watching these two pick out the ornaments to hang. We had a system going, I would get them out of the boxes, lay them on the ottoman and the girls would choose which one they wanted to hang, and by hang, I mean, cover the bottom half of the tree. At least this year we didn't have multiple ornaments hanging from the same branch like in years past.

And then it came time to pose for a photo....and the madness started....

Are they 4 and 2 years old OR 14 and 12 years old?

Just look at all of that attitude...we are in for it. I am planning to do a Five on Friday post about my Five Favorite Ornaments this Friday so I will save the detailed photos for that post, but here is the finished product after I moved a few around to give the bottom branches some relief. You will notice its still a little bottom heavy, but I am a-okay with that, the girls did it, and I wanted to leave it that way as much as I could.

Brad always takes a wonderful photo of the tree on Christmas Eve with the lights on, just after Santa has come, so I can't wait to see what the photo will look like this year.

Wordy Wednesday: 10 Prayers to Carry You Through...

2011-11-30T08:29:00.001-05:00

Courtesy of my peeps at Good Housekeeping, I thought I would share with you a feature I read in the most recent issue...

1 - Give me Simplicity - If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is "thank you", it will be enough. - Meister Eckhart

2 - Give me Open Eyes - "For each new morning with its light, For rest and shelter of the night, For health and food, For love and friends, For everything Thy goodness sends." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

3 - Give me a Break! - "God, grant me the power to out of this shower" - Monica Sheeham from Prayers for All Occasions

4 - Give me Warmth - "For All Warm Things" by Marjorie Holmes from Home Me Up a Little Longer, Lord. What I took away from this prayer was that not only does a home and fireplace keep you warm, but the warmth of smiles and the warm greetings you can receive and bestow on the ones you care for, and even strangers are all about the warmth of the Holidays.

5 - Give me Mindfulness - a prayer for living slowly "God help us to live slowly, To move simply, To look softly, To allow emptiness, To let the heart create for us. Amen" Michael Leunig from When I Talk to You

6 - Give me Joy - a don't take it all so seriously prayer - "Give me a sense of humor, Lord, and also things to laugh about. Give us the grace to take a joke against ourselves, And to see the funny side of the things we do. Save us from annoyance, bad temper, resentfulness against our friends. Hlep us to laugh even in the face of trouble. Fill our minds with the love of Jesus; for his name's sake" A.G. Bullivant -

7 - Give me Faith - a prayer for control freaks - "If you put your whole trust in God, as you ought, He most certainly will give you sustenance, as He doth the birds' they come out hungry in the morning but return full to their nests. " the prophet Muhammad
*I have to admit, I am a control freak but this one didn't really hit home like I would have liked, perhaps a comparison to anything other than birds and it might have hit the mark, but I loathe birds, I am terrified they will peck my eyes out.

8 - Give me Perseverance - a prayer that's inspired everyone from Mother Teresa to Martina McBride - heck, I read this at a school assembly my junior year in high school.

"People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered. Love them anyway.
If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives. Do good anyway.
If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway.
The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.
Honest and frankness make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway.
The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be show down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds. Think big anyway.
People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs. Fight for a few underdogs anyway.
What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway.
People really need help but may attack you if you do help them. Help people anyway.
Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth. Give the world the best you have anyway. - Kent M. Keith, Ed.D.

9 - Give me Optimism - a prayer for the ability to choose the sunny side of the street - "Whatsoever things are true, Whatsoever things are honest, Whatsoever things are just, Whatsoever things are pure, Whatsoever things are lovely, Whatsoever things are of good report; If there be any virtue, And if there be any praise, Think on these things. - Philippians 4:8, the Bible, King James Version

10 - Give me the Grace of Silent Night - a prayer for our dearest unspoken dreams and desires "I still think that the prayer without words is the best" - C.S. Lewis

"Good Girl" Bed

2011-11-29T21:20:00.000-05:00

Don't mind the summery pink horse PJ's she is rocking, it has been 75 here lately....

It was time, time to kick the crib to the curb and move this little lady to her "good girl" bed (that is what she calls it, we call it her "big girl" bed, but she is fairly stuck on "good girl" bed, so we let it fly.)

BEFORE: February 2009

I adored her crib bedding...

I was pretty darn excited about the timing of it, I love the holidays and all things decorating for them, so to be able to switch her over AND get to use her Holiday Bedding was just a double bonus for me. We have been debating the switch for quite some time, we thought about doing it right when we got back from the beach, but we just didn't think it was the right time, we didn't think she would stay in it, so we gave it some more time and then after a few weeks of terrible sleep and a few conversations with Dr. S we decided to take the plunge, and just give in. We had tried a few of the other things Dr. S suggested and this was one of the last ones. So when the girls left for Brad's Parents house last Sunday we decided that depending on how she did sleeping down there, we would make the move over the long weekend.

Brad picked me up Tuesday Night and we stopped at good ol' Big Lots...do not laugh and do not knock it until you try it. We snagged a bomb diggity Serta Pillow Top that makes my back sing a sweet song for several hundred dollars less than had we procured it from a mattress warehouse-type place. I was thrilled with the deal and Brian and Brad picked it up on Saturday, so Saturday Night was the first night in the "good girl" bed.

I bet you are chomping at the bit, wondering how it went....well, lets just say it went far better than I anticipated it would. She stayed in the bed, slept until close to 7:30am (knocking on wood, this child usually graces us with her cranky presence around 5:30am) and was a happy camper. Everyone that came in the house had to make a trip upstairs to see her "good girl" bed. It was adorable to see her showing something off, for something to be about her, with her being the youngest, its usually Olivia doing the show & tell.

Sunday Nap went well...but last two nights she has freaked. Bi-Polar Avery reared her ugly (yet cute) head, and she was terrified of her room and her bed again and didn't want to stay in it. So I "night-night side" her for a little while, we got a few books, she flopped around from headboard to foot board, and then finally she settled and fell asleep at the foot board on top of the covers - whatever floats her boat. And Monday morning she met me in the hallway around 6:30am and appeared a bit confused, and this morning she came into our room....it is so strange to see the door open and a little face poke around the door, Olivia has never come into our room, leave it to Avery!

Our little one is growing up...it was sad packing away the crib bedding and folding up the bedding accessories that I can now pass along to friends who are starting the journey into motherhood. Sniff Sniff...

I am already looking forward to pulling out her new big girl bedding. I have had it for a few years and while I don't love it, I really like it, and for now it will suit her just fine. We are in talks about one day soon giving the girls the option of sharing a room (of course, I just re-did Olivia's room) so until we make a final call on that one I won't be changing anything in Avery's room.

Home Tour Tuesday: Kitchen

2011-11-29T21:08:00.000-05:00

Kitchen 2005

Everyone always says that you should love your kitchen, that families gather in their kitchens, and while I agree that is often times very true, I happen to want to love most of my house, so optimizing the kitchen hasn't been a priority for us, and that could be because we are pretty happy with it the way it is, outside of some cosmetic changes, we think it suits us just fine.

Kitchen 2005

If I had to do it over again, I probably would have gone with white cabinets, but I still haven't the foggiest idea what I would have done for the counter tops. I struggle with clutter on the counter near the phone. We drop the mail there, notes get left there and piles of clutter just reproduce there. It is also our designated charging area for our phones and iPads, and that isn't idea, because the cords just drive me bonkers. Heck, maybe we need one of those charging station thingies...but here you have it. Our kitchen from 2005 and our kitchen today....not a lot of material changes, but a few small ones.

*There isn't as much stuff displayed on top of the cabinets - and frankly until I figure out how to actually display things for beauty instead of for storage purposes I would like to redo the entire top of cabinet strategy.
*Christmas decorations are up in these photos and we have a lobster rug by the sink

*There is vinyl art to the right of the fridge and a bench from my parents house has been refinished and is now storage for the girls dress up clothes.
*We now have two leather counter stools - while they are technically in the morning room, you can see the tops of them in this photo, with the very bright, can't wait for it to no longer be red, red walls of the morning room. For the record, the flash blew it out and distorted all the colors, it really isn't that bright.
*The menu chalkboard now hangs on the pantry door (the pantry is almost done, just need a few more supplies from Ikea, so I am waiting for Brad to make his next trip to NoVA)

I'll tell you what...that pot rack is a saving grace! Our cabinets, while we have quite a few of them, they are just not designed to be all that functional, and I can't imagine where we would store all the pots and pans if they weren't hanging from our ceiling. It's funny though, when Brad gets up in the mornings and makes his way to the bathroom, the pans clank and announce that he is now awake and in the bathroom. HA!.

And you'll see that I did some cleaning up around the phone area to minimize the charging mess, but picture this with a Blackberry and iPhone plugged in and charging. And notice my super cute Erin Condren weekly planner keeping us organized and on top of things - LOVE IT. If you recall from the things I would like to do differently you would recall a bright white kitchen and yes, that is a dream of mine, but to be honest, our kitchen does the job and I happen to fancy it just a smidgen.

Menu Monday: Gooey Butter Cake

2011-11-28T10:00:00.000-05:00

My girl Paula did it again, this recipe is fan-tastic!!! And it is VERY easy to make. I plan to whip one up on Friday for the Tacky Sweater Party on Saturday. You can find this recipe on Paula Deen's Website here. And there are several variations of this goodness, chocolate, toffee and pumpkin are a few I would love to try.

Servings: 6 to 8 servings
Prep Time: 30 min
Cook Time: 40 min
Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients
Cake:

1 18 1/4-ounce package yellow cake mix
1 egg
8 tablespoons butter, melted
Filling:
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
8 tablespoons butter, melted
1 16-ounce box powdered sugar

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Combine the cake mix, egg, and butter and mix well with an electric mixer. Pat the mixture into the bottom of a lightly greased 13 by 9-inch baking pan.
3. In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the eggs, vanilla, and butter and beat together.

4. Next, add the powdered sugar and mix well. Spread over cake batter and bake for 40 to 50 minutes.

Make sure not to over bake as the center should be a little gooey.

Five on Friday: Favorite Christmas Presents

2011-11-25T10:24:00.000-05:00

My First Christmas - 1979

Growing up I have amazing Christmas Memories, some involve our family traditions and others involve Christmas Morning and the presents that I was blessed with. So I thought it would be fun to share my Five Favorite Christmas Presents of all time...

1) My First Cabbage Patch Kid - Gayla Selda - she is the one with the red hair. My Gramps scoured the entire Eastern Seaboard to procure this puppy, and he ended up cutting a deal with one of his customers in NYC to bring her home to me. (this photo cracks me up, but it was the only one I had of the Cabbage Patch so I thought it would be fitting to share, take a gander at those window treatments - BARF, but my Mom was looking pretty fine showing us her etchings...and notice my Dad's pocket protector, lord almighty... for the record, the other two are named Robina Loraine and Raphael)

2) My first Mac - my parents hid this and asked me to grab a trash bag out of the front closet to help clean up from all the other presents. I am so surprised to find the boxes hidden under a blanket, I just froze, started clicking my heels together and saying "There is No Place Like Home"...I think I was 16 Years Old.

3) My own personal phone line - this was another good story. My Parents casually grabbed the cordless phone from my room and placed it next to my chair on Christmas Morning, said that it would just be easier to have a phone near me so when my friends called, I wouldn't have to get up. Well fast forward to an hour or so later, the phone rings, and its my Dad...he is calling from the bedroom on our home phone and I was so confused, how was he calling my phone from his phone, they were the same phone line...but NOPE. My Parents had given me my own personal phone number and phone line for Christmas - it was a great present and I am sure it was a fantastic relief for them too.

4) Calendar - every year I looked forward to seeing which calendar I would get, and I have to admit, it is still one of my favorite presents to this day. I have now convinced my Mom to let me open the calendar early, since I can easily pick it out of the pile and once I know one is in the pile I have to open it and start writing all important dates in it - I have a small problem. HA!.

4) Barbie Camper - this one is a doozie. My Gramps gave this to me as well, but my Dad will never forget the hours he spent putting it together and adhering each and every sticker, he was up until the wees hours of Christmas Morning just getting this thing ready for me.


This photo doesn't do it justice - I loved this thing

5) Vanity Set - I got a vanity set probably when I was in 5th or 6th grade, and I had it in my room until I went to college. I used to sit at it and get ready every single morning, it was a perfect gift for the age I was, and it was super useful.

I hope that my children have great memories. I wish I had all the Christmas Morning photos here to share with you, just looking at them bring back the magical feeling of Christmas.

Thankful Thursday: Week 3

2011-11-25T09:57:00.000-05:00

A little late since we spent the day showing our thanks and enjoying our quality family time with Brad's family in good ol' Southern Virginia, but better late than never! We spent a few days of week 3 apart so we weren't as diligent about tracking our thankfuls, but this is what I captured from my little beauties once I was reunited with them on Wednesday.

Olivia - Thanksgiving 2011 - 4 Years Old

Friday November 18th
Olivia - I am thankful for our home office, it makes Mommy happy
Avery - I am thankful for my toys
Brad - I am thankful that my job allows me to travel & while traveling catch up with friends and spend time with family
Leigh - I am thankful for pizza, it is the PERFECT meal to make with your family, it is simple, easy and everyone loves it. Homemade, frozen, delivery or pick up, I just love it all.

Saturday November 19th
Olivia - I am thankful for my toys
Avery - I am thankful for my Hot Potato Game
Brad - I am thankful for weekends at home to get projects done
Leigh - I am thankful for neighbors who have become some of our closest friends on the planet

Sunday November 20th
Olivia - I am thankful for my Green OBX t-shirt (lord help us)
Avery - I am thankful for puzzles (seeing a trend here?)
Brad - I am thankful that my Parents can help me out with the girls while I work and give Leigh a break.
Leigh - I am thankful for peace and quiet - and having the house to myself for the first time in 4 years.

Avery - Thanksgiving 2011 - 2 Years Old

Monday November 21st
Olivia - I am thankful for Bina & PawPaw and getting to stay at their house
Avery - I am thankful for Dora
Brad - I am thankful for our house and the neighborhood that we live in

Leigh - I am thankful for my in-laws who adore my children and are willing to watch them to give Brad and I a break.

Tuesday November 22nd
Olivia - I am thankful for all the toys at Bina & PawPaw's house
Avery - I am thankful for Dora Fruit Snacks
Brad - I am thankful that we made it through another year and I am looking forward to a great holiday season with my family.
Leigh - I am thankful for the man at Four Paws who loves Riley, he always makes me feel less guilty when I have to drop him off for a "visit"

Wednesday November 23rd
Olivia - I am thankful for stickers
Avery - I am thankful for Boots the Monkey (the trend continues)
Brad - I am thankful that Wayne & James made it home and were able to say goodbye to their Mom
Leigh - I am thankful for safe travels for the Craig boys, they made it home and were able to spend a few hours with their Mom before she became an angel (Please pray for the Craig family, Kathy's battle with cancer ended quietly on Wednesday November 23rd)

Thursday November 24th - Happy Thanksgiving Day!
Olivia - I am thankful for coloring books & crayons (she is learning from her sister)
Avery - I am thankful for Santa Claus
Brad - I am thankful to have a few days off

Leigh - I am thankful that Brad has a sister, that she has children and that those children are now cousins to my beauties. I love my cousins, loved getting together with them growing up, and it is important to me that the girls have memories with their cousins.

Wordy Wednesday: My Wish

2011-11-23T10:46:00.000-05:00

Olivia - 10 Months Old

I can imagine that I have shared my love for Rascal Flatts with ya'll on more than one occasion, but in light of some parenting challenges we have been faced with recently I thought that it would be prudent to share one of my favorite songs with you. It is rare that I listen to this song without a lump forming in my throat, even thinking the lyrics of this song chokes me up. I so badly want so many things for my beauties, but the lyrics of this song sum my wishes up quite well....

I hope that the days come easy and the moments pass slow,
And each road leads you where you want to go,
And if you're faced with a choice, and you have to choose,
I hope you choose the one that means the most to you.
And if one door opens to another door closed,
I hope you keep on walkin' till you find the window,
If it's cold outside, show the world the warmth of your smile,

But more than anything, more than anything,
My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to,
Your dreams stay big, and your worries stay small,
You never need to carry more than you can hold,
And while you're out there getting where you're getting to,
I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too,
Yeah, this, is my wish.

I hope you never look back, but ya never forget,
All the ones who love you, in the place you left,
I hope you always forgive, and you never regret,
And you help somebody every chance you get,
Oh, you find God's grace, in every mistake,
And you always give more than you take.

But more than anything, yeah, and more than anything,
My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to,
Your dreams stay big, and your worries stay small,
You never need to carry more than you can hold,
And while you're out there getting where you're getting to,
I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too,
Yeah, this, is my wish.

Avery - 1 Year Old

My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to,
Your dreams stay big, and your worries stay small,
You never need to carry more than you can hold,
And while you're out there getting where you're getting to,
I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too,
Yeah, this, is my wish.

This is my wish
I hope you know somebody loves you
May all your dreams stay big

Menu Monday: Bubble Garlic Loaf

2011-11-21T09:47:00.000-05:00

I love me some Garlic Bread, I could eat my weight in Garlic Bread, I can't stop myself, I just eat and eat and eat it, and this loaf actually just enables that behavior because I just pick another bubble off and down the hatch it goes, its just THAT good.

Ingredients:
1 frozen loaf of white bread (you can buy it in packages of 3-4 loaves, just take 1 out to thaw)
1/2 stick of margarine - melted
1 Tablespoon Parsley Flakes
1/2 teaspoon Garlic Powder
1/4 teaspoon Garlic Salt

Directions:

1) Thaw the dough, but not to the point where its sticky and super soft, you want it to still have its shape so its easy to cut up.
1a) Grease loaf pan or if you are doing a double batch the bundt pan works wonderfully.

2) Melt butter in microwave - add dry ingredients and mix together in same bowl

3) Cut up dough into 1 inch pieces and dunk in the butter mixture and layer in pan

4) Cover pan with towel and let rise for 1 hour
4a) Pre-Heat Oven to 350

5) Bake at 350 for 30 minutes (I had to bake longer than that, but I made a double batch)

I had to steal this photo from allrecipes.com since I forgot to snap a shot of the finished product, but I have to say, I think my finished product was better looking than this one.

Before & After: Let There Be Light

2011-11-20T21:37:00.000-05:00

Inspiration: Pottery Barn Kids...

I have been hunting for a smaller lamp for Olivia's room since I re-did a lamp for her wrong several months ago and it turned out all wrong, it was FAR too large for her dresser and was just the wrong shade of blue, not at all what I had been hoping for, and then the lamp shade I made turned out to be too hot of a pink and not watermelon-ie enough, just wrong.

Project: Let There Be Light

So two weekends ago I picked up a small lamp base at Goodwill, primed it and sprayed it, and began work on the lamp shade I had in my head, very simple, almost Pottery Barn Kids like, but for a fraction of the price, of course.

Lamp Base #3 - BEFORE

Well, I sprayed the lamp base, made the shade and then sat down to put them together only to realize that the shade and the lamp base were just not compatible, the shade attached to the top of those arm thingys, but the lamp base didn't have those arm thingys....so again, all wrong. My excitement deflated quickly. I had to find another lamp base that would work with the shade.


I love the detail...

So I procured lamp base #3 at The Goodwill for $8.25, the most expensive of the 3, I should add...not my finest moment, but probably my favorite base of the three I had already redone.


Color of Choice: KRYLON Watermelon

And so once the base was cleaned and sprayed I married it with the lonely shade and ta-da, finally the perfect lamp Olivia's dresser has been waiting for. I really like it! The spray job isn't perfect, it was tough to get a clean coat around the embellishments, but I did my best and I really love the color and I think the shade compliments the base well.

Forgive the horrible lighting, I wanted to snap a photo so bad, and it was already dark, so I had to use the flash.

And you happen to get a sneak peek at Olivia's new wall color as well, so now you know how the walls look. I can't wait to reveal her finished room, I happen to love it and I just hope she does for many years to come. I just swapped in her PBK Christmas Bedding for the season, so I probably won't reveal her entire room until I switch it back to her everyday bedding since that is what the room decor is centered around, but I might just show a few of the projects I have been working on to make her room special.

6 A's of Good Parenting

2011-11-19T10:22:00.000-05:00

I get a daily Family First email and sometimes the topics hit home...this one in particular hit home like a ton of bricks...man oh man I have a lot to learn and a lot of work to do.

Parenting is all about relating. The better our relationship with our children, the better are our chances at effective parenting. Youth expert, Josh McDowell, believes there are six factors that play into good parenting. He calls them the 6 A’s.
1. Affirmation - this one is hard for me, I always want to control the situation or fix it, downplay it so that they don't think its a big deal if something doesn't go there way, but really what they need from me is affirmation. "When we affirm a child’s feelings it gives them a sense of authenticity...Even when we don’t agree with our children, we can still affirm their feelings and them as individuals."

2. Acceptance - there are times when this one is easier than others, but at the end of the day this one is all about loving them for who they are, and making sure they are secure in our acceptance. "When you give unconditional acceptance you give a child a sense of security...Our love and affection should not be based on grades, behavior or achievements"

3. Appreciation - "When we express appreciation it gives a child a sense of significance...the more we “catch” our children doing things right, and we express our appreciation, the more motivated they will be to behave better." I can speak first hand to this one, when I say THANK YOU or tell the girls how much it means to me that they told the truth or did something the first time I asked they grin from ear to ear.

4. Availability - "When we are available to our children it gives them a sense of importance...So when our kids come to us, our response should be to stop, drop and listen. Stop what we’re doing, drop to our knees, and listen to them, hug them, play with them" - I am ashamed to admit that I have a lot of work to do on this one. I have a hard time unplugging sometimes, I will come home still be dealing with an email and have trouble putting it aside until after they are in bed. I need them to know just how important they are to me, and I never want them to feel like they are second to anything in my life.

5. Affection - "When we show our children affection it gives them a sense of lovability." I can actually pat myself on the back for this one, I am all over those little buggers. Not a single day goes by that I don't plant a wet one on them several times a day. I can't get enough snuggles!

6. Accountability - "When we hold children accountable it gives them a sense of responsibility and self-control. Children need the disciplines of responsibility and self-control to function successfully in life. As parents, we must create rules and boundaries for our children. Once those guidelines are set, we must be consistent in enforcing them" I am batting about .350 in this category. Sometimes I feel like I am full of rules and too strict, other times, when I am exhausted or feeling worn down I tend to give in and roll over...this one needs some work too and based on some recent conversations around Avery's behavior this might be the first area to focus on.

Five on Friday: Thanksgiving Recipes

2011-11-18T08:25:00.000-05:00

I love Thanksgiving Food, and I have favorites from all the different locations in which I have spent Thanksgiving over the years, so I thought I would share my Five Favorite Thanksgiving Dishes/Recipes.

1) Blueberry Goodness - frankly I have no idea what this dish is actually called, I made the Blueberry Goodness up, but its Blueberry and its Good, so no one could die the accuracy of the name. This is a dish that I first had at Pattie Jo's house (she is my Mom's BFF and my second Mom), and while I haven't had the guts to take the recipe for a spin, I might just have to give it a try this year since the girls seem to be big fans of jello and sour cream and cream cheese.

2) Stuffing (aka Dressing) - this one varies greatly from home to home, some put oysters in it, some include fruit, my favorite is another one from the Pattie Jo Thanksgiving Playbook, my Mom does it justice, its simply divine and I can't get enough...

1 large bowl of dried white bread cubes (1.5 loaves)
Saute 1 Stick of Margarine with 3 Stalks of Chopped Celery, 2 small Onions chopped
Salt & Pepper
Pour Butter, Celery & Onion mixture over bread cubes
Add 1-2 T of Poultry Seasoning to Bread, Butter, Celery & Onion Mixture
Add 1 Quart Boiling Water and mix together well (don't always need full quart, use judgement so that the bread is moist)
Bake in casserole dish @ 350 for 30 minutes (or can stuff in Turkey, but that grosses me out, so I don't do that)

3) Sweet Potato Casserole - this one is from Brad's Mom. I hadn't really dabbled in Sweet Potato goodness prior to moving to the "south" and I hadn't baked with Sweet Potatoes until just a year or so ago when I gave this casserole a whirl, it was easy-peasy and delicious.

3 Cups Sweet Potatoes
1 c. Sugar
2 Eggs
1 tsp. butter flavoring
1/2 stk margarine
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c. evaporated milk

Mix all ingredients together...

Topping: 1/2 c. brown sugar, 1/2 c. coconut, 2 T melted margarine, 2 T flour, 1/2 chopped pecans (optional)

Melt margarine and add other ingredients - it will be crumbly. Put on top of potato mixture. Bake @ 350 for 45-60 minutes.

4) Pumpkin Cheesecake - this one I procure from Costco, BUT I dug up a recipe that looks fantastic and I might just break down and give it a try one of these days. Heck, I could eat pumpkin flavored masterpieces every month of the year.

Ingredients

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 (9 inch) prepared graham cracker crust
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 pinch ground cloves
1 pinch ground nutmeg
1/2 cup frozen whipped topping, thawed

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Blend in eggs one at a time. Remove 1 cup of batter and spread into bottom of crust; set aside.
Add pumpkin, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg to the remaining batter and stir gently until well blended. Carefully spread over the batter in the crust.
Bake in preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until center is almost set. Allow to cool, then refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight. Cover with whipped topping before serving.

5) Homemade Rolls - this is another Pattie Jo recipe. These balls of yeasty goodness are #1 in my book, nothing compares to these little warm balls of heaven. I will update this post with the recipe as soon as I receive it.

Thankful Thursday Week 3

2011-11-17T15:35:00.000-05:00

Here you have week 3 of documenting our thankfuls...

Friday November 11th:
Olivia - I am thankful that the leaves are changing colors
Avery - I am thankful that Riley has toys
Brad - I am thankful that I don't drive a Honeywagon anymore (I made that up, he forgot one on Friday, so I am putting that one in there for him)
Leigh - I am thankful that I have a 9-5 job and get to spend the evenings and the weekends with my family

Saturday November 12th:
Olivia - I am thankful for camping trips with my Daddy
Avery - I am thankful for my Sister
Brad - I am thankful for date nights
Leigh - I am thankful for a babysitter who loves our girls and who our girls love to hang out with

Sunday November 13th:
Olivia - I am thankful we got lots of Pumpkins
Avery - I am thankful for LaLa's socks (I think she might be starting to lose it)
Brad - I am thankful for leftover pizza & toaster ovens
Leigh - I am thankful for Crock Pot's and the delicious meals they are capable of producing

Monday November 14th:
Olivia - I am thankful for Ms. Leslie (her teacher)
Avery - I am thankful for Ms. Susan (her teacher)
Brad -I am thankful that Riley watches over the house while I am gone
Leigh - I am thankful for the miracle of life and the happiness it brings to people's lives

Tuesday November 15th:
Olivia -I am thankful today is my Daddy's Birthday and we get to go to a Restaurant for dinner
Avery - I am thankful for chicken
Brad - I am thankful that people remembered my birthday (I didn't have the heard to tell him that FB tells people its his birthday - hahaah, kidding, he knew that)
Leigh - I am thankful that my Mother-in-Law decided to have a second child - Happy Birthday Brad.

Wednesday November 16th -
Olivia - I am thankful for dessert
Avery - I am thankful for animals in my crib
Brad - I am thankful that my wife keeps our children alive while I am traveling (I phrased this for him)
Leigh - I am thankful for The Elf on the Shelf - I can't wait to break it out.

Thursday November 17th -
Olivia- I am thankful that I get to go to my Bina's house soon
Avery -I am thankful for my kitty shirt
Brad - I am thankful for heat
Leigh -I am thankful that Dora taught Olivia all about the Naughty List, now if only Avery would connect the dots.

Wordy Wednesday: Blah

2011-11-16T10:19:00.000-05:00

Linus van Pelt: What are you going to do on Thanksgiving, Charlie Brown?

Charlie Brown: My mother and Dad, and Sally and I are all going to my grandmother's for dinner.

Sally Brown: Why don't you come along, Linus? We can hold hands under the table.

Linus van Pelt: Blah.

Charlie Brown humor cracks me up, so in the spirit of Thanksgiving and my pal Charlie Brown I thought I would share a quote from the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving Special. Growing up Thanksgiving was never a huge deal, we didn't have big plans as a family and didn't have any Thanksgiving traditions, but since Brad and I have been together we have celebrated Thanksgiving with his family and every year after eating we all sit around and go through the Black Friday Ads and talk about what the kiddos are going to get from Santa. I imagine one day in the future we will be hosting Thanksgiving at our house and part of me is excited for that day and the other part of me is sad, I like traditions and I am not always a fan of traditions changing...but that is how the cookie crumbles. I am looking forward to sharing my favorite Thanksgiving Recipes with ya'll on Friday.

Happy Birthday Hubs

2011-11-15T10:37:00.000-05:00

Our Wedding Day - May 2005

Today marks the birthday of the handsome gentleman that I share my life with...I can't imagine our days without him, the girls and I are very lucky to have him as the leader of our pack.

Brad & Riley - June 2005

There are so many things that we love about Brad, but if I had to list the top 9, since we have been together for 9 years, they would be:

1) When we first started dating long distance, he and I were on the telephone, and his Mom called (call waiting) and he told me he had to go, that he would call me back, he chose his Mom over me and I have loved him for it for all these years.

2) He is passionate - whether it be about his hobbies, his work or his family, he is passionate.

3) He smells great - when I curl my head in his shoulder (aka my pocket) I just love the way he smells...let's face it ladies, some boys are smelly.

Brad & Olivia - July 2007

4) He is a wonderful father to the girls, and being a dad to two little girls isn't always easy, not all men are up for the challenge, but he is, and he rises to the challenge every single day.

5) He is traditional, he still opens doors for me, helps me put on my coat, he is a real gentleman in the traditional sense of the word, and he doesn't let me walk near traffic, he always moves me to the safer side of him - love that.

6) He is affectionate - he loves to snuggle, he loves to smooch on the girls and is a great hugger

Brad & Avery - February 2009

7) He isn't afraid to say "I love you", he says it to his Grandma when they are on the phone, he never misses a chance to say it to his Parents and he never tucks the girls in at night without those three special words...

8) He is kind and willing to help a neighbor or friend whenever they need a helping hand

9) He wants to be a good person, he works hard to do the right thing each and every day and is true to the values his family raised him with.

I can't tell you about his present just yet since he won't open it until he gets home tonight, but the girls and I are hoping he loves it. We are going to dinner tonight, just the four of us, and Brad and celebrated as a couple last Saturday night with dinner & a movie and then this weekend we will celebrate his special day with our friends. Happy Birthday to a wonderful husband, son, brother, friend, father and uncle. We love you!

Home Tour Tuesday will be back next week with a tour of our Kitchen...

Menu Monday: Pumpkin Roll

2011-11-14T12:02:00.000-05:00

In keeping with all things Pumpkin for another week I thought I would share with you a recipe I have been dying to try. And don't be fooled by the photo above, I snapped it this morning of the Pumpkin Roll I procured at The Walmart on my way into the office since I had failed to whip something up for our Office Potluck (no shame in my game). I am thinking I will give this recipe a try either this weekend or just before heading to Bassett for Thanksgiving...I could eat my weight in all things Pumpkin & Cream Cheese...

Ingredients
1/4 cup powdered sugar (to sprinkle on towel)
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup LIBBY'S® 100% Pure Pumpkin
1 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
6 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup powdered sugar (optional)

Directions
1.PREHEAT oven to 375 degrees F. Grease 15 x 10-inch jelly-roll pan; line with wax paper. Grease and flour paper. Sprinkle towel with powdered sugar.
2.COMBINE flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt in small bowl. Beat eggs and sugar in large mixer bowl until thick. Beat in pumpkin. Stir in flour mixture. Spread evenly into prepared pan. Sprinkle with nuts.
3.BAKE for 13 to 15 minutes or until top of cake springs back when touched. Immediately loosen and turn cake onto prepared towel. Carefully peel off paper. Roll up cake and towel together, starting with narrow end. Cool on wire rack.
4.BEAT cream cheese, powdered sugar, butter and vanilla extract in small mixer bowl until smooth. Carefully unroll cake; remove towel. Spread cream cheese mixture over cake. Reroll cake. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving, if desired.

95 Bliss

2011-11-13T09:42:00.000-05:00

I was graced with a day off to honor our Veterans and so on Friday while the girls were at school I hopped on 95 North and headed to Ikea for a day of shopping at my own pace, dreaming of future home projects and not to mention a few hours of solid sing-a-long time for me in the car. I had a perfect day. I had been needing a day to myself like that and while most people wouldn't find sitting in traffic on 95 to be relaxing, it felt amazing not having to be anywhere at a certain time, to be moving at my own speed, to be responsible for myself and ONLY myself. I channel surfed as I drove and belted out the lyrics to each and every song I recognized, I think that might have even contributed to the sore throat I woke up with this morning, too much voice strain from all the singing...

So while at Ikea I just strolled through the showroom and marketplace trying to imagine what our house would look like with some of their storage options, and how organized my life would feel if all of our stuff had a spot, and a classy looking spot to boot!

Here are a few of my favorites...

Amazing Storage Option that includes a corner piece....

We need to find a way to make something like this work in our house - I love it

A cute white dresser for the Morning Room - but instead I went with 2 Cheapo Rast Dressers that I have to finish - we'll see how I feel about my decision once they are finished

Shoe Storage - love it and almost procured it for our foyer area

I love this idea, but our kitchen just isn't built for this look, nor do we have wall space to support it, but this system could function in so many different ways, from craft storage to art supplies, you name it, it would likely work for it.

I had hoped to have a few hours to walk around Potomac Mills too, but with traffic I only had 3 hours to spend up there if I wanted to be back at a reasonable time on Friday evening and we had to babysit for sweet Campbell...who happens to be the best little girl in the entire world. It is amazing being around a little one that is so well behaved, I almost didn't know what to do with myself when she listened the first time, didn't fight bedtime and snuggled to read a book, it was fantastic and an out of body experience all at the same time!

Five on Friday: Things I would change...

2011-11-11T09:04:00.000-05:00

about my house....if I had to build our house again, or build another house, or heck, buy a used house, these are the five things I would look for...

1) Closet Space - lord have mercy, a girl just can't seem to get enough closet space and our closets are t-i-n-y. And frankly it frosts my cookies....when you build a house in 2005 you don't think the builders are going to cut corners on the closets, closets are critical, but no, our builder really cut the ol' corners when it came to closet space. The girls closets are very small, I have no idea what they are going to do as teenagers...we shall see.

2) A more formal front stoop/door area -I just love the look of glass on both sides of the front door and I love the look of a glass front door. When I think about a glass front door I do get a little anxious about the security aspect of it, but I just happen to love the look...and around the Holidays, it is simply divine.

3) A White Kitchen...when we built our house I actually chose to avoid white cabinets, I didn't want white, but boy oh boy have I changed my mind. I love the look of a big white kitchen, clean, and full of glass cabinets, I could eat it up I love it so much. I also really love having a counter/stool area that is actually functional, our current stool area is just not as functional as I would like it to be.

4) A Big Laundry Room - complete with sink and storage area, room for a drying rack and ironing board, you know the normal laundering accessories...

5) Playroom Area - I would love another room/area on the first floor of the house that is Playroom Area material, that is big enough to store all the toys, but far enough away from the rest of the social areas so that we could have guests over and also banish the children to the playroom and know that they are safe, but not hear them...is that too much to ask? HA!

There you have it...5 things I would change about our current house, or look for in another house, what would you change or look for in your next house?

Next Week's Theme for Five on Friday - Favorite Thanksgiving Recipes

Thankful Thursday Week 2

2011-11-10T19:47:00.001-05:00

So another week of thankfuls flying around our house and we are still churning out the thankfuls...my gal pal Kristin, from Our Life Full, had a genius idea...you document your "thankfuls" on cards and every year you put those cards in a book or journal and year after year you watch your children's thankfuls grow and change, and you can also document how their hand writing changes year over year...great idea huh? See her cards below...

So the last week has been a funny one in our house, Avery continues to keep it real with the things she is thankful for and Olivia is starting to remind us of a 74 year old woman...

Friday November 4th:
Olivia - I am thankful for the food we eat
Avery - I am thankful for Riley
Brad - I am thankful its Friday
Leigh - I am thankful for great friends

Saturday November 5th:
Olivia - I am thankful we are safe and sound
Avery - I am thankful for Campbell & Alyssa's Birthday Parties
Brad - I am thankful that I live in America and that we have the freedoms we have
Leigh - I am thankful for microwaves

Sunday November 6th:
Olivia - I am thankful we get to stay home (she meant on the weekends)
Avery - I am thankful for my friends & cows
Brad - I am thankful for my 3 beautiful girls
Leigh - I am thankful that our girls have great relationships with our parents/their grandparents

Monday November 7th:
Olivia - I am thankful that we are healthy
Avery - I am thankful for candy
Brad - I am thankful for our health
Leigh - I am thankful for $1 night at Don Pepe

Tuesday November 8th:
Olivia - I am thankful that Santa Claus has Reindeer
Avery - I am thankful for yogurt sticks
Brad - I am thankful for Mexican Food
Leigh - I am thankful for our neighbors, they are like family

Wednesday November 9th -
Olivia - I am thankful that Daddy is home (he had been traveling)
Avery - I am thankful for Santa Claus
Brad - I am thankful for our neighbors
Leigh - I am thankful for XM Radio - it always gives me a little blast from the past on the way to work

Thursday November 10th -
Olivia - I am thankful that we have bath tubs and showers (seriously, who is this girl?)
Avery - I am thankful for my Monkey PJ's
Brad - I am thankful for working smoke detectors (ours has been chirping for days)
Leigh - I am thankful for hospice workers, and while I wish they weren't necessary, they are heaven sent

Wordy Wednesday: Thankful

2011-11-09T10:17:00.005-05:00

"When I started counting my blessings,
my whole life turned around."
Willie Nelson

How simple, yet how powerful...if we all just stopped to count our blessings now and then, how easy would it be to slap a smile on your face and hold your head up high?

I can imagine the small stuff wouldn't be "sweated", the water would flow more smoothly under the bridge, and bygones would truly be bygones...it is so easy to get caught up in the day to day, to stay down once you stumble, but to my homeslice Willie's point, a simple act of reflection on what we have to be thankful for can be a powerful thing and can turn that frown upside down.

Home Tour Tuesday: Family Room

2011-11-08T22:17:00.000-05:00

So in true home tour fashion since we started in the half bathroom last week we are going to continue down the hall and make a left, which lands you in our Family Room. This room has evolved several times in the six years we have lived in this house, but the major pieces have been holding down the fort since we moved in. Do I love it...not yet, but you bet your bottom dollar I like it a heck of a lot better than I did a year ago, and with the changes I still have planned for this TV watching mecca I just know one of these days I am going to love it, truly, madly and deeply.

Here you have our family room in 2006:

The photo quality is awful since its a scanned in photo, but that glare you are seeing from the other side of the room is a lovely Ikea-Picasso that is hung far too high and is just plain boring.

This view gives you a glimpse into the view if you were standing directly in front of the TV...

And this is what our family room looked like just a few short months ago when we were having the hardwood floors put in...the night before install...

Right after the install, when everything had made its way back to his rightful home...

And here it is today...this is the view from the kitchen...

This is the view from the Morning Room area...

This is the view from the double windows in the corner

Clearly the view of the shelves..

And this is the view if you are sitting on the couch...

Changes I have made since 2006:

Curtains...I have had 3 sets of curtains in this room, and while I really did love the red ones, in fact I miss them, they were holding me back from the look I was going for.
Lamps have changed a few times, went from small lamps to bigger lamps with red shades to now white/navy shades...
Hardwood Floors & Area Rug...bye bye original carpet
Slipcovers - just a recent add and likely confusing if you have followed along the last week or so since I had indicated they were going back...turns out they don't have a very friendly return policy so I had to make the best of it.
Frames...they were black and are now white
Shelves above the couch are now white
Keep Calm & Carry On Sign
Also, depending on the time of year you photograph this room, the red chairs and the love seat sometimes trade places so that changes where the sofa table resides. This is the first arrangement where I have the sofa table behind the chairs...I am not a huge fan, but there is a bench in the backup sofa table spot now, so my hands were tied.
Chair Rail Molding & Paint above and below...

Like I mentioned above, I do like this room, but I don't love it just yet....so I have a few more things to think about and a few more things planned.

add molding below the chair rail and paint all white below chair rail
consider slightly changing the top wall color, not sure how big if a priority this one really is, but I would like a different shade of blue, a lighter one if possible, but going lighter with paint is a pain.
sectional sofa
move 1 red club chair to a different room in the house & cover remaining club chair with a softer fabric to get rid of the red leather look
get rid of the keep calm and carry on print, paint the frame its in white and put something else fun in there - can't move the frame because that thing is anchored to the wall with some serious hardware, Brad would shoot me.
remove the window pull back hardware...that will come down shortly, just changed our the curtains a few days ago

Please excuse the super duper flash infused photos, I can't catch light in my house these days...

Menu Monday: Pumpkin Pudding Pie

2011-11-07T08:07:00.001-05:00

My Mom started making me this pudding pie when I was a wee little lady, and you will notice that when I made it on Sunday for the girls I didn't actually put it in a graham cracker pie crust like the recipe intended, but that is because the girls and I just love the pudding, we don't need the delicious pie crust, but if I had intended on serving this for others, you bet you bottom dollar the pie crust would make an appearance.

What you need:
2 Packages of Instant Vanilla Pudding
1 Can of Pumpkin
1 2/3c Milk
8-16oz Cool Whip (you can use regular, lite or free)
1 1/2 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
Graham Cracker Pie Crust (optional)

Step 1: with hand mixer combine both packages of pudding with milk...

Step two: mix in the pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice and cool whip...

Step three: let it chill in the fridge for 3-4 hours and serve to your little kiddos with Dora spoons until their tummies rejoice.

Fall Back....how about Fall Asleep?

2011-11-06T20:52:00.000-05:00

Good Gracious...4:09am came far too quickly this morning. Avery happens to be one of the worst sleepers on the planet and throw in rolling the clocks back an hour and you have a recipe for DISASTER. But this morning even Olivia was up early, she came down the stairs a little after 6am, and about 30 minutes later, after trying to talk them into an early morning trip to Walmart, we were dressed and on our way out the door to Country Style Donuts (not Walmart), and the phone rings...it was Brian (neighbor) and he was organizing a breakfast party at The Brick House Diner. There were 10 of us for an early breakfast and it was wonderful to not have to compete with the rest of the Sunday breakfast population, who was still asleep. But those of us with toddlers know how to roll on the Sunday following the Daylight Savings Adjustment!!

After a quick trip to Walmart on the way home from breakfast, we all dug right in and kicked off a few projects around the house. From the before photo above you can see I attempted a project today, but based on the fact you won't see an after photo quite yet...I was working on Olivia's new lamp and shade, and the lamp looks fantastic, and I love the shade and how it turned out, but the fact of the matter remains the lamp and shade are not compatible and how on Earth I didn't scope that out before kicking off the project is BEYOND me...after a few choice words with myself, I laughed at myself and jumped in the car with Molly, in the hopes that The Goodwill would come through with another lamp that would do the trick...no such luck. So this project is on hold until further notice...BOO HISS.


A little preview...this will hang in Olivia's Room

My spray paint of choice for several projects that will appear in Olivia's room - Krylon - Watermelon

Public Service Announcement: I had read on a few blogs that the $1 Spray Paint at Walmart was a-okay, covered well and served its purpose....WRONGO. This stuff is awful. I can't believe that I bought a few cans of it, it has required a ton of rework, sanding, etc on the three pieces I attempted to use it on. Never Again!

Brad joined in the house project fun...I promise a better photo of the mailbox area, but I couldn't help put capture him in action...there were a few cute ones of the girls helping him, but there were a few moons showing (if you catch my drift), so I think I will keep those out of the blogosphere.

And I just knew you were curious as to what the beauties were up to while we were busy doing some curbside beautification...notice Olivia's outside...two things to point out that might not be obvious to those of you just blinded by her cuteness...

1 - she is wearing a life jacket while riding her bike...the kind that has the strap that goes between your legs and snaps....

2 - she slept in those clothes, went to breakfast in them and was still wearing them at 12 noon, while outside playing (Mom of the Year ballot is already in...no need to nominate me again)

A Birthday Party Filled Day

2011-11-05T19:57:00.000-04:00

Avery had a very busy day, a day filled with Birthday Parties, which turned into a day full of bouncy houses and cupcakes. The first party started at 2pm and it was for a little girl in Avery's class, and if you have a BFF at 2.5, I would have to say this sweet Alyssa would be Avery's, Avery just loves her and they were precious at Alyssa's party, two peas in a pod. It was hard explaining to a very heartbroken Olivia that she wasn't invited to the party, and that sometimes they will do things with their own friends, that is a tough concept to explain and was a tough one for her to swallow, it tugged at my heart strings to see her so upset.

Alyssa handled that thing like a pro - advantage of having 2 older brothers

Tinkerbell Theme - adorable cake

Our little lefty...doesn't everyone have a chalkboard in their backyard?

Avery & Alyssa opening presents

While Avery and I were gone, Olivia and Brad were on a mission to set up Avery's big girl bed...but that mission was aborted when we realized the Toddler Bed conversion kit that we thought was universal for all Young America furniture is in fact NOT universal, and the set we have will not convert Avery's bed the way it did Olivia's...so another week in the crib it is, we will start our mattress search this week and likely will bypass the Toddler Bed all together and head straight for the Full Size Big Girl Bed...

Avery and I got home and we all went across the street to celebrate Campbell's 2nd Birthday, which all included more bouncy house fun, the girls have mad love for bouncy houses.

Molly did a great job with the animal theme - super cute and the kiddos loved that there were animals on their cupcakes as well.

Happy Birthday Sweet Campbell - we love you and can't believe that you are two years old

Good News: Brad got the garage cleaned out, which means I can tackle a few last minute projects for Olivia's Big Girl Room, and the hopefully the room will be ready to photograph. It won't be 100% finished, but it will be close enough to reveal.

Five on Friday: Children's Books

2011-11-04T11:31:00.000-04:00

I love Children's Books, I love to buy them, give them as gifts, collect them, hoard them, etc. I still fondly remember my favorites as a child and I have new favorites now that I am a Mom to two girls, and I suspect I would have a different list if I was a Mom to a little boy. But here you have it, my 5 favorite children's books...

1) GOODNIGHT MOON by Margaret Wise Brown - this one is an oldie but goodie. I loved it as a child and I loved reading it to my children. In fact it was the first book I bought when I found out I was pregnant with Olivia.

2) Someday by Alison Mcghee & Peter Reynolds - if you have a little girl I double dare you to try and get through this one without choking up. Every single time I read it, I tear up, it pulls at my heart strings...I just love it, a very sweet book.

3) LOVE YOU FOREVER by Robert Munsch and Sheila McGraw - this one is just plain sweet and is one that as a new parent really hits home. There are moments in time when you can't imagine your child growing up and not needing you, there are moments in time when you just wish the time away, but as they get older (I am so wise, aren't I? Shoot, I do have a 4 year old, I am so experienced - HA!)

4) Fancy Nancy by Jane O'Connor - I happen to find the Fancy Nancy books to be HILARIOUS, I am ashamed to admit it, but when the girls start talking while I am reading I get slightly annoyed because I can't wait to see what happens. And when they get distracted and want to stop reading I just keep reading for my own enjoyment.

5) Olivia by Ian Falconer - of course, how could I resist? I have a sweet child named Olivia, of course I love this book. I actually find the Olivia series to be quite amusing, but worry that my children are picking up bratty behaviors since Olivia isn't the most well mannered child on the planet...

This one was hard, I have so many favorites, and I love reading books to the girls. I love bringing out the holiday specific books. We started with the Thanksgiving books last night and just put the Halloween books away, and I can't wait to bring the Christmas books out - we have a TON of those.