Easter 2012

We had such a nice Easter weekend! Allen was able to be home (after almost 2 weeks in WA) and we really enjoyed our time together. We started at an egg hunt and potluck lunch on Friday that a local friend hosts every year. It was a blast, as always.



Saturday morning our Easter Bunny showed up with baskets for the kiddos. We like doing the secular side of Easter on Saturday so we can focus on the sacred aspect on Sunday. It works perfectly for our family.
Carter got an Angry birds blanket, AB activity book, iTunes GC and loads of treats:
Kenna got a lockable diary (such a surprise huge hit), jewelry and season 1 of Little House on the Prairie (we have been reading the books):
Addison got a Tangled nightgown and a water bottle with her name on it (the upside of having a kid with a popular name is all personalized stuff you can find)
Emery got a book, stuffed animal, banana toothbrush (favorite!) plus a few treats. You can see the Cheetos carrots I made for the kids which were so much fun (my kids never get chips so it was a big treat)
We dyed our eggs and the kids tried blowing out eggs for the first time and loved it. They are huge pain to dye though because they float in the dye.
Sunday morning we headed to church for a lovely service. The kids all gussied up in their Easter finery:

Just for fun a little peek around the house this spring season:






One of my big priorities this weekend was making sure that we had LOTS of yummy food for my sad, bachelor-ish husband. I've been making menus for the past 2 weeks. We tried a few new recipes and had a couple of big winners. Saturday morning we made this recipe for coconut crusted french toast:

http://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/coconut-crusted-french-toast/

It was AMAZING and very easy. I'm on a hunt to find a tropical fruit syrup recipe to go on it next time.

Sunday afternoon we had chocolate strawberry shortcake. Allen is typically not a fan of strawberry shortcake but he LOVED this. The shortcake is not super sweet but pretty dense (almost like a scone) and we loved the unique toppings the recipe called for. I actually made this again today to take to some friends as an FHE treat tonight. It is so.dang.good.

http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Chocolate-Strawberry-Shortcakes

We also had grilled fish tacos (good but I'm still on the hunt for a to die for recipe) and bleu cheese burgers (our favorite made up recipe ever). I think I delivered on the good weekend food front!

Hope you had a blessed and beautiful Easter too!

Valentine's Decor

I'm CRAZY about Valentines Day and always have been. Other than Christmas, it's my favorite holiday to celebrate. Growing up my mom made even little holidays a big deal around our house and I loved it as a kid. So of course I want to do the same for my kids. I've had lots of fun decorating this year and worked with things I mostly had on hand. Here's a peek around my house this month.

Vtine quote on adorable sign stand my friend made for me (LOVE it):
I added this felt heart banner to a red plate I already had:
My mantle. I had the LOVE letters but they were covered in patterned paper so I redid them by wrapping them in yarn (do you love my new frame? - Allen hit it out of the park with my Christmas gifts this year - I love love love it!)
Beloved apothecary jars:
Dining room table:
Living room:
Kitchen window. I loved the ornaments in the window at Christmastime so much that I decided to do it again. At one point I thought I would decorate a tree for every holiday and bought a bunch of Valentine ornaments to use for that (what was I thinking?!?) (Excuse the flash, it is gloomy here today!)
Front Porch sign:
Add my new valentine pillows into the mix and we were completely DECKED out this month. It has been super fun and I will be sad to take it all down in a couple weeks! Be back soon with an update on our V-Day celebrations!

January POTM: Valentine Pillows

At the beginning of the year when I was making some resolutions I decided I would try to accomplish one big project every month. I'm not putting any restrictions on what kind of project it has to be but I want to do something big every month this year. Thus the Project of the Month (POTM) was born. For January I wanted to sew some Valentine pillows. I bought all the stuff for this project last year and thought I might be able to get them sewn after I had Emery but before Valentines day. I was clearly smoking crack or something thinking I would get anything done with a brand new baby in the house. So the fabric has been sitting here for a year. There's nothing I hate more than a half finished project or a project that I have all the materials for but haven't done yet.

I got busy and started sewing last week and got 6 pillows made. Love them! I have always loved Valentines day so these are perfect for my house.


I have changed things up quite a bit with Valentines Decor this year and will be posting about it next week after I get through two little girly birthdays this weekend. (Why do my babies have to grow up?!)

My POTM for February is to finish my 2011 Project Life book. I have a good headstart on it so hopefully it will come together quickly. My March project isn't nearly as exciting as I will spend the month getting ready for the mom-to-mom consignment sale that I am participating in this spring. It's going to be a lot of work but I am excited to clear out more kids stuff/clothes!

Holiday Home

If I had to choose a theme for my holiday decorating this year it would be “Make the old new.” I didn’t want to dedicate any budget to updating my Christmas décor this year and honestly, I couldn’t think of a single thing I wanted to add anyway so it worked out perfectly. I did make one purchase, which you will see in my porch pictures and did buy 2 rolls of ribbon but that is it! And I’m really happy with how festive and pretty the house looks this year! Allen is forever bugging me to weed out the home décor stuff I’m not using on a regular basis but I have held onto some of my Christmas things for years. This year that hoarding mentality has really paid off. I used a bunch of my décor that hasn’t seen the light of day in a few years in new ways, making them seem totally new. I’ve loved the challenge this year.

First up, the front porch. My one purchase was the trees on either side of the door. I’ve wanted a set for years and found a great deal on the pair early in the season! Close up (still LOVING my sign stand and how it gives some height to the area).

Living/Dining Rooms:

Same tree/theme but I did my ribbon and topper differently and I like it more this year than ever.

Tree at night:

Family Room:

Tree at Night:

I did add a stocking for Emery this year that my sister sent for my birthday. Love seeing them all lined up! (And I love the holders this year that I scored for 90 cents each last year after Christmas).

Jars:
Funny story this year. I keep my candy from year to year and replenish when I need to. I have had this Christmas candy for the past 3 years. Carter begged me for a Hershey kiss the other day and I warned him that the candy was old but he still wanted it. He popped a kiss in his mouth and got the funniest expression on his face and then went and spit it in the trash. I tried one afterwards and it was horrible! Chocolate definitely does NOT keep. At least it looks cute, right?

I love to add little holiday touches everywhere and this is in our half bath:

Kitchen:
Old ornaments but love them hanging in the window this year

Pantry Door:

Have had these wreaths for years but haven't used them for the past few Christmases but I love them hanging together

One really fun thing I made this year are beach ornaments. We collect a bit of sand from all of our beach vacations and I have been looking for a way to display our sand for years. I saw this idea to use clear ornaments and put the sand inside them with a tag of the beach it is from. BRILLIANT! Since our family room tree is our “travel” tree it goes perfectly with the theme. I have a few more to make but I love I have a place to show off our beloved beach vacations over the years. We also added three new travel ornaments this year: a new Disneyland ornament, a fluer de lis from New Orleans and a pink flamingo from our Florida trip.

The only thing I am sad about this year is that I don’t have a place to display all my nativities. Not only do we buy an ornament from our trips, but we try to get a nativity from them as well. I have some fun and beautiful nativities stored away for someday when we get into a bigger house. I’ve missed them the last couple of Christmases (I do have my main nativity out in my kitchen).

I have a bit more throughout the house but this is the main stuff. I'm happy have the house pretty and cozy and ready for the season!

Welcome Summer!

Ok, not really. It feels anything but summery here today and the weather this week is supposed to get even more cold, rainy and windy (such a weird spring weather-wise). Anyway, I always feel like there is a weird decorating lull between Easter and the 4th of July and decided to do something about it this year! It's a bit early to have summer decor up but I know the next couple weeks are CRAZY with end of year activities and then the kids will be home so I decided to get it done while I can.

To me nothing says summer like bright and citrusy colors. I've been crafting like crazy this week. On my front door:



{The wreath is straight on my door, I promise. Somehow I didn't manage to get my camera straight though}


Summer banner:

Apothecary jars:

{I glittered the turquoise and orange balls and they didn't quite go according to plan but it is DONE enough for me. The small jar has gummy sour watermelon candy!}

We have a busy summer this year. On the schedule is piano lesson and swimteam for both C&M, Swim lessons for Addie, Dance camp for the girls, Star wars camp for Carter, 10 day trip to Denver, 1 week trip to Florida for the Frost family reunion and hopefully lots of relaxing, days by the pool and good times. I have some fun ideas up my sleeve for this summer so stay tuned!

Fresh {plus a winner}

I love spring! I love how fresh and new everything feels. I was about to type that I love how clean everything feels in the spring. However, spring in ABQ means the wind blows constantly and it is really dusty here.

Anyway, along with spring cleaning, I've had an itch to freshen up the house a bit and add some more soft, springy colors. These are the throw pillows I've had in my living all fall and winter:

And these are what I've swapped them out with for the spring and summer:

I really wanted some greens and blues and this is what I chose using my limited shopping resources. I picked the fabric and my wonderful mom did the sewing (bless you mother!!). Reason # 1 billion why I love having neutral furniture - if I get bored, I switch up my pillows, add a throw and have an entirely new look. I'm also in the market for a new LR rug but have yet to find what I'm looking for. The orange pillows will be making a comeback sometime in the fall{because I still love them}.

I also did a new centerpiece for my dining room table:

I am in LOVE with the wheat grass in my white bowl. So easy, so fresh, so cheap and pretty much impossible to screw up!

Giveaway Winner: Thanks so much for playing along with my giveaway. I have a whole bunch of new things to try and I'm excited! I had Allen draw the winner and he chose #9 - my cutie, patootie friend and former mission companion, Lizzy!

Also, I'll be doing another favorite things post soon and will highlight a few recipes that I've tried lately!