A few fall favorites

In honor of getting ready to put my trees up this weekend, I thought I'd do a recap post of a few things I've been LOVING this fall.

1. Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars (Paula Deen)

I have mentioned before that I've been a cooking/baking maniac this fall. I've been particularly fond of trying new pumpkin and apple dessert recipes. So much so that a few weeks ago Allen kindly asked me to take a break as he was getting tired of fall desserts (WHAT?!?). However, when I saw this recipe a few weeks ago I knew I had to try them and they are the clear winner for fall. Not only did Al and the kids gobble them up but they also received rave reviews from friends that tried them. Seriously, you have to make these!

Go here for the recipe:
Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars

2. Scentsy

I have been a huge Scentsy fan for a few years but my love is always renewed in the fall. A few of my favorite scents right now: Pumpkin Roll, Clove & Cinnamon, Sentimental Cider, Spiced Grapefruit, Snowberry

3. Fall Dining Room Centerpiece

Over the summer Al and I were strategizing our life (heh) and decided that since we are planning to be settled down and back into our own house in the next couple of years that we should acquire some new furniture before we become "house poor" again. You know, when you spend your money on paint, remodeling and landscaping instead of furniture. Anyway, we made a general plan, set a budget and I started shopping (you don't have to ask me twice to buy new furniture!)

I have had the urge to "grow up" my house over the past couple of years. My style has definitely evolved and I want some more formal, yet versatile spaces in our home. I had some pretty strong ideas about what I wanted in a formal dining room so we decided to make that our first purchase. There is still a lot of work to do in this space but here is what we ended up with:

The chairs are parsons chairs from Ballard designs. I've had my eye on these chairs for a few years. I LOVE that they are slipcovered so I can change things up any time I want to and wash them when they get dirty. I actually had a hard time choosing a color but went with something super neutral, which was not my original plan. It's a long story but I had a bit of a customer service issue with Ballard and was not able to get exactly what I wanted. My intention is to have a set of light colored slipcovers for spring/summer and a darker, richer set for fall/winter. Obviously this is my light set since I could not get my first color choice in velvet. There's always next year!

The table was a tiny bit more tricky and I spent forever shopping around for it. The shopping in ABQ is horrible and I just could not find what I had in mind. I was super leery of shopping online since colors can be skewed so much. In the end, we found this table in Utah while we were there for Mindy's wedding. It is from Pottery Barn (but I got it for a steal at DownEast Home) and Allen very grudgingly strapped it to the top of our car and we hauled it home (seriously). I love the style and the color of the table and that it easily seats 10-12 people with both leaves in. Dreamy.

I'm still shopping around for a couple of wicker chairs for either end of the table but have yet to find a pair I love. I have something like this in mind:

I have plenty of ideas about the rest of the space so hopefully I can pull it together soon with my limited shopping resources.

4. Candles

My favorite purchase in forever has got to be those creamy white pillar candles you see on my table above. I KNOW they look like your average, run- in- the- mill candle but they are not. They are flameless (electric), remote controlled candles!! I got the entire set at Costco and have seriously had to restrain myself from buying a second set. They are fabulous. One button click and the entire set turns on or off. They provide great ambiance and are SO versatile. I raved about them so much that my mom and sister had to buy a set. They did have a hard time tracking them down though so if you're interested you might want to pick them up soon. Trust me, your kids will be as enamored with them as you are and you might have to occasionally hide the remote from them!

5. Midnight Pomegranate Body Cream:

Yum, yum, yum. This is hands down my favorite winter-time lotion. It smells SO good and I use it every single day. I even put it on twice a day sometimes because I love it so much!

6. Third Trimester!

I can hardly believe I'm officially in my third trimester. Only 10ish more weeks until this baby girl joins our family. This pregnancy has FLOWN by in so many ways and we are all super excited to meet our new little gal. We have chosen a name, which is a HUGE relief, and which I will only share over the phone so if you're interested call me.

For the record, I can't believe Thanksgiving is NEXT week. That lull just hasn't been long enough for me!

Daddy Day

We had a nice Father's Day yesterday. Allen got to sleep in and then got breakfast in bed:

He received a big pile of homemade cards and gifts from the kids. I got him a reversible basketball jersey for when he plays ball at the church. Sounds random but he has been looking for one for the longest time. He also got 2 new pair of shoes for an upcoming backpacking trip he is taking and other misc. camping/backpacking gear.

He took the big kids to Stake Conference and I took a few pictures when he got home.

For dinner we made Chicken cordon bleu (of course) and I made this delicious and amazing peanut butter cup cake:

(cake recipe: here - this cake has been on my "to try" list for almost a year and it is a DEFINITE make again)

I am so grateful that the wonderful man I married turned out to be an amazing father as well! We are so lucky to have him as the head of our family. He is an upstanding holder of the priesthood, a hard worker, an amazing provider and SO MUCH fun to be with. It makes me so happy that when the front door opens every evening the kids still scream in excitement that their dad is home.

Of course I am also so grateful for my own dad. I watched how my dad treated my mom and was by her side supporting her with everything my entire life. My mom told me to find a man to marry like my dad and in the most important ways, I did. My dad is patient, optimistic, hard working, faithful, supportive and the general go-to guy in our family. You'll never find a man willing to do and give so much to those he loves.

Happy Father's Day!

Valentine Traditions

I've had a few people ask me about my Valentine traditions. I've mentioned before that after Christmas, Valentines day is my favorite holiday! I love it! Since it's usually C-R-A-Z-Y to go out on Valentines evening, Al and I try to do something romantic earlier in the week. This frees up the actual day to do something fun with the kids.


Valentines Fairy: Starting February 1, the Valentines fairy brings the kids fun treats and small surprises every day. Kind of like an advent calendar but it only lasts for 2 weeks. This year I got these cute mailboxes in the dollar spot at Target and embellished them a tiny bit. The fairy leaves her treats in the boxes for the kids to have every morning. {You could still do it this year, starting whenever}. We write notes to the fairy and ask her questions and she leaves notes back. She also puts "activity slips" on some days {make valentine cookies, make Valentines for grandparents, Valentine craft, etc.} It's so funny to me that Carter is convinced that our Fairy is a girl and Makenna is convinced it's a boy {It's a girl, for the record}.



Valentine breakfast: No big surprises here, just pink milk, heart shaped pancakes. We also get the kids a small gift that is wrapped and at the breakfast table. This year M is getting a princess nightgown she has been wanting, C is getting a small lego set, A is getting touchy-feely books.


Heart's Desire Dinner: For dinner on Valentines day night I do a "Heart's Desires" dinner. This just means that each member of the family gets to pick a menu item for the meal. Their hearts desire {get it?}. This means we get some totally random but really fun meals and everyone gets something they really want to eat.


Fondue Party: We always, always finish the evening with a chocolate fondue party. Highlight of the day for everyone. This is my favorite chocolate fondue recipe ever, given to me years ago by Mindy {who now has a private blog}:


1 t. butter
1 c. mini marshmallows
1/3 c. whipping cream
6 oz. chocolate bar with almonds (it's fine to use the no nut version too)
2 T. milk

Break candy into pieces. Rub wall of crockpot with butter. Place candy, marshmallows and milk in crockpot. Cover and stir every 15 minutes until melted and smooth. Gradually add cream. Continue to heat 30 minutes.

We dip pretzels, marshmallows, angel food cake, strawberries, bananas, rice krispy treats, etc.

Here's a peek at a few of our decoration this year. I made another banner. I'm addicted and think I might need one for every holiday! First year for valentines tree. I've been collecting ornaments for a few years and finally did it this year. I'm hoping to find a taller skinny tree for really cheap after Christmas next year.

Buffet:

So that's it! You can thank my mom for a lot of these ideas as they are traditions I've carried over from my childhood!

For more of my Valentines ideas, check out these posts:

Valentines day with a new baby!

Kids crafts and outfits

Homemade Valentine Craft

{And look how teeny tiny my kids look in these pictures :( My heart is hurting today, a certain someone turns ONE tomorrow. I can't stand it - but stay tuned for lots of birthday fun!}