What I'm Loving Wednesdays

So, I've seen this idea for awhile, and have decided to link up with Jamie at Little Daisy May and warp two of my other posts into this - both my previous "Things that I'm loving" and my "Weekly Song" posts will become this post (at least for now).  I still love adding new music and will continue to do so but those special songs; the ones that really hit me, will show up here instead.  So, check out what I'm loving and also click on over to Jamie's blog and check out what others are loving too!  It is a great way to feel grateful even on the not so grateful days.

 I'm loving these little key rings!  They are great for teaching projects, crafts and more.  I think I will take stock in them :- )

 I'm loving my laminator.  I picked this up before Christmas for a steal and have not regretted it once.  It is so much nicer than using contact paper (and easier too!)  I smile when I use it :-)

This coffee maker ROCKS!!  It was Darryl's Christmas gift but I make a cup of "Coffee House Speciality Coffee" once a day and I don't even "like" coffee :-)  And it makes awesome hot chocolate too!

I'm loving this candle - Sparkling Cinnamon from Yankee Candle.  I burn a candle almost every day - it not only makes my house smell good, every time I see it burning, I pray for my family.   Just a little something to keep them close to my heart and mind!.

Yep, I'm loving Chocolate Milk.  It is my weakness, my craving, my comfort food; seriously.  I used to buy it every week but now, I try to only buy it when it is on sale BUT if I have to make a run to the grocery store mid-week you can guarantee that I will come home with chocolate milk.  (And guess what?  Josh loves it as much as I do!)  My niece, Alicia, also loves chocolate milk and we fight over it when we are at my parents house LOL

25 Days of Praise Challenge - Part 2

 Last week, in part 1 of the 25 days of praise challenge, we were supposed to praise our husbands in public (check out the post here).  This challenge is coming from Courtney over at Women Living Well. 

This weeks challenge is as follows: (copied from Coourtney's site)

This week's challenge is: be a little more creative with your praise. Surprise your husband with:

1. A love message on the mirror


2. A love message packed in his lunch


3. Use sidewalk chalk and write a love message on the driveway


4. Write a list of ten things you admire about him and then read them out loud to him.


5. Make a toast to him at dinner with friends. Or raise your glass at dinner and list the things you admire about your husband for your children to hear!


6. Buy or make your husband a trophy and engrave it with the words "The Best Husband in the World." (I found a cheap trophy at a party supplies store - the kids loved presenting it to daddy)


7. Write a poem - even if you can't write - it can be goofy. Include in it references to your favorite movies, restaurants, places to go and memories. He will enjoy the trip down memory lane and the laugh!


8- Blow up balloons and put a loving message in each one. Fill your bedroom with balloons as a surprise.


9- Take a roll of receipt tape and write a long message with the things you admire and respect about your husband - then roll it up and put it in a bottle for your husband to open and read. (I made many of these for my husband in college when we were dating long distance. I mailed them in packages.)


10. Get creative with your selflessness!

"When you touch your husband's deepest need something good almost always happens!"~ Dr. Emerson Eggerich

 

So I challenge you today to not just show your husband you love him but show him that you LIKE him!

Aren't those some great ideas??  If you want to read her entire post, she also shares some insight on being the one to take the "first step" - it is a nice reminder of what our response should be to our spouse. 

I will admit, I did not do well last week.  Don't get me wrong, I praised my husband often but I didn't post it in my status, nor was I ever really around people to say anything in front of him.  I do like this weeks challenge a little more though - it is more things to do as a family.  I am in the middle of working on a 14 days of Valentines Countdown Calendar which we will start on February 1st - I'll be sharing all the info on how to create your own soon (it is not my idea - but it is still an awesome one!)  I have a friend who is also doing this Praise Challenge and it was fun to watch what she posted in her facebook status and on her blog about her husband - it is very clear how much she ADORES him!!

So, I will be linking up over at Women Living Well



Too Cute Not To "Toot"

I'm having a lot of fun working on crafts and projects lately, but, of course, that just makes me search harder for some more awesome ideas!!

One of my 40x40 goals is to make an apron (I've ruined so many clothes in the kitchen - never used to but it seems I cook a lot more and just get dirty!).  This post gives links to some basics about making an apron - I kinda like it :-)  Check out the post here.

I thought that this little post it note holder at A little Knick Knack was super cute.  It would really add a neat touch to a work desk.  When I used to work ;-) I liked to add touches of home to my work space to make it feel a little more relaxing.

This is a "cooking" craft from Mrs. Happy Homemaker and all I can say is, "Seriously"?  Wow.  Bacon stuffed French Toast AND it has a cream cheese filling.  Wow - this is going on our menu very, very soon and I don't even like French Toast LOL

Here's a great idea for a simple Valentines Gift from It's a Crafty Life

I'm a sucker for kids hand print projects - they make great Holiday art work for the walls!  Check out this great idea from Cleanandscentsible

Ok, I LOVE this idea - I'm working on some ideas for my kitchen - to make it function as an entry way AND a kitchen (since that is what it really is) and was just going to do the standard cooling rack sitting in a sheet pan to put shoes on but this is so much more adorable! Check on this idea also from Cleanandscentsible.

Here's a great centerpiece idea for a birthday party - I think it could also be converted to use at showers or other parties as well.  Check out the easy tutorial at Primitiveandproper

I love these paper hearts from smilemonsters.  They would look so cute hanging up in corners of the house - I know my kids loved seeing ornaments hang from the ceiling and I have some left over Valentines Paper too . . . .

I love books and I love Monograms for decor - so this idea from Littlethingsbringsmiles is just perfect!  It would look fantastic on my family photo wall.

 And I think I'll end with this last gift idea from mmscrapshoppe for Diaper and Washcloth cupcakes.  Something a little differant - they would also make a cute gift box embellishment instead of doing a batch of 24 :-)

Meal Planning

Meal Planning 101 - I wish!  I'm not sure if because I love to cook that I struggle with meal planning OR I struggle with meal planning because I love to cook.   I hear people say that they only buy what is on sale AND they have a coupon for but, it makes me wonder, what do they eat?  A can of beans with a pork chop?

I came across a blog recently that is based on the concept of cooking 1 hour and making 5 meals for the week.  Wow.  I love it already.  So, I take out one hour on Saturday, prepare the basics for 5 meals, and than Sun-Thurs, my meals are almost ready before the day begins.  It got me thinking.  I spend hours planning the weeks menu, looking through the ad, finding coupons (which I recently joined SavingsAngel.com on a trial basis for two weeks just to see how it goes . . I'll post more on that when my two weeks are up!), and, of course, getting lost in new recipe ideas.  In my many years of experience (hahaha) I've learned that for every one GREAT new recipe, there area bout 15 ok, not so great, and just plain awful recipes out there.  See, the new recipe thing came from the fact that we were in a rut when both of us worked full time - often working 50-60 hours a week; than we had kids and I worked 40 hours a week but add in the time of running to and from day care, that added another hour or more to my day.  So the rut was : Spaghetti on Monday, Beef Strogenoff on Tuesdays, Tacos on Wednesday, Chicken on Thursday and out on Friday, Saturday and Sunday because I was too tired to care!!  Seriously, we had taco's EVERY SINGLE Wednesday for about 4 months and even I started to not like tacos. 

I'm trying to balance my desire to not be in a rut with the need to stop trying new recipes and wasting money on things we don't like :-(  So, I've created a simple spreadsheet (actually a word document with a table . . .) of our top favorite recipes in all basic categories.  I than created February's menu.  Yes, you read that right - F.E.B.R.U.A.R.Y.'s menu - a whole month!!  Well, it isn't quite complete - I plugged in 5 favorites each week.  That leaves two days open - to try a new recipe, for grabbing something quick, for eating appetizers for dinner, etc.  This makes me breathe a sigh of relief.  Half of my work is over.  Now, as I come across recipes I REALLY want to try, I can plug them in over the course of the month.  I miss some of our old "ruts" - so, I'll try this for a month and see how it goes :-)

Back to that 5 recipes in an hour concept - I like it more and more; I'm trying a few of her recipes this week; requested a free 1 week menu (yes, there is a fee for a three month membership) and am now looking at my own recipes in a new light.  I'm asking myself - how can I make these one hour prep recipes each week.  Just reading some of her ideas (click on the button above to go check it out!) helps me think outside the box for food prep. 

If you would like check out my current February Menu - just click here (ok, not quite yet - I wanted to post this but will update it as soon as I finish up that Menu; hopefully tonight).  You'll see blanks - those are for those new recipes and unexpected things - I'll fill those in weekly.  This should also help with grocery shopping because I can actually see other things I'm planning on making and buy things when they are on sale!!

Date Idea Book

As I mention often, one of my favorite craft sites is Oopsey-daisy.  This craft idea I stole borrowed from Allison! 

The first thing that I did was to print the cards that Allison so graciously made available.  You can click here to access her post that gives the link to the printables or can you be creative and make your own!.  I chose to just use hers; I'm one of those "why re-create the wheel" kind of people.  I printed the cards on cardstock.

 Once, printed, I cut them all out.

 I went back and forth about laminating them, thinking at first, we would throw them away but the more I thought about it, the more I like the idea of keeping them and once we have done them all, we can start over.  Yes, there are a few that we will more than likely not do - but that is ok!

 Once laminated, I cut them out again and punched a whole in the corner of each card.

 Once "punched" I slid them all on a key ring and I'm going to hang them on my bulletin board.  When we need a date night idea, we can just grab the deck of cards and pick something new. 

A lot of the ideas are family friendly so the boys will come with us but there are some that are just for the two of us and we'll have to grab a sitter :-) 

As always, make sure and check out :

I Spy - Quilt Swap

New is good, right?  I've seen something called a "Quilt Swap" on a few blogs and it caught my attention.  I am by no means this fantastic quilter.  (I'm just finishing up my first quilt) but I've taken an interest in the rag top quilts- they seem a little more my style (for sewing at least - Have I mentioned that my mom makes heirloom quality quilts????)  I've also seen great ideas for "I spy" items like these :

 First, Obsessivelystitching shows these great story telling blocks.

 Than, Boy, Oh Boy, Oh Boy  gives one great idea for place mats . . . .

 And, Child of Mine gives another idea for place mats.

 Obsessivelystitching also gives a tutorial for making an ABC book - use I-Spy fabric to increase the use of the book!

And, of course, Oopsey Daisy shows how to make these great bags!

All great ideas but I'm, opting for the quilt first.  So today, I started the process:

 I picked up 10 different "boy themed" fabrics.  Technically you only need 1/4 yard of each but, this being my first one, I went ahead and got 1/2 yard of each.  (good thing - I REALLY messed up my cutting on the first one and almost didn't have enough!)

Than, once it all came back to me, I made quick work of all that fabric and here is my stack. 

So, what is next?  I have to ship these off on Monday to the person "in charge" of this one and than wait for my 200 blocks to return!!  I'm excited. 

I plan on using this quilt more for learning - I like to keep quilts in the living room for the boys that have distinct things on them (they have a space one and a dinosaur one my mom made - both with buttons - we call out colors and count the buttons!)  This one, we can use to find things, colors, for counting, and more. 

When I get my fabric, I promise to share :-)

Check out the following blog to learn more or just see her other great ideas!

Happenings in this House

It's that time of week again - time to share the Happenings in this House!  It's been a busy week - my sister-in-law had major surgery to have a portion of her lung removed due to cancer, the boys and I made a trip to the "city" to meet my husband for dinner, and we just seemed to have needy kids this week :-)  I still managed to snap a few shots of our week!



Josh loves to play with his trains :-)  He lays the track and just plays for hours.



Nate is going through the seperation anxiety stage and just likes to be cuddled for a bit inbetween playing.

And than out came the bean bags - as you can see from the next few pictures - the boys had fun!

See that little car?  That was one of Josh's favorites - he chose not to crawl for a long time but he would use this car to get around - he would sit on it and scoot all over.  He is FINALLY allowing Nate to sit on it LOL  When we brought it back out for Nate, Josh took it back over.  So cute!

My parents came by on Friday to pick up their car and we snapped these pictures

Josh adores his Papa - during dinner, he had to move his plate so he could sit next to Papa - and he carried on a full conversation with him.  Than, he took Papa to his room where they played trains.  It was so cute!

So, there are the basics from our week :-)