A Week of Firsts
It’s not lost on me that many of my children’s “firsts” are my “lasts.” If I stop and think about it, it feels a little bittersweet. Therefore, it is perfectly logical for me to not focus on the fact that this is the last time I will escort one of my children to 4 year preschool (or Pre-K as they call it here). I’ll just distract myself with this picture of him being “too cool for school.” Right before we walked out of the house he said to me, “it’s pretty bright out there mom. I think I’m going to need my shades.” Yes, my boy, your future is very…
Wistful Wednesday – Oregon Kitchen
Did I tell you we sold our house in Oregon? We did! Hurray! 99% of the time I am so glad to be done with it. The process of selling your home can be draining – especially if it takes a while, like ours did. The other 1% of the time I am a little wistful for the ol’ homestead. I never felt like it was our “forever home,” but we did put a lot of sweat equity into it and with that comes some emotional investment. So, let’s take a trip down memory lane! Here’s the kitchen! It was actually quite large for a 1936 home. When we redid the…
Vanilla Glazed Banana Muffins
An alternate title to this post could be “how to make a relatively healthy muffin less healthy, but more delicious.” Another appropriate title would have been “how to make 24 muffins disappear in 24 hours.” Bananas aren’t my go-to fruit, but the rest of my family eats bananas like they are going out of style. My kids do eat the bananas after they develop brown spots because I tell them those are the sweet bananas. Ha! Every once in awhile, though, I end up with the wrong ratio of consumption to banana browning. And there those brown bananas sit mocking me. I hate to throw them away, so a couple of…
The Past Week
For all of our family on the West Coast, we are in our 3rd week of school. I know, I know. It’s crazy and somewhat normal feeling – now that I’ve surrendered to the reality of getting up at oh dark hundred to get my daughter to the bus stop. I equate the start of school with the beginning of fall, which doesn’t translate well when school starts in August. So far I’ve resisted the urge to buy pumpkins and mums. But once September rolls around, all bets are off! Although, I did buy this super cute mini mason jar candle from Bath and Body Works. The Bourbon Butterscotch scent…
Arrow Growth Chart – ScrapMaster Project #1
Some of the best things in life happen by accident. Would you agree? Unless you are potty-training a toddler. Then, too many bad things happen by accident… all over the floor. Thankfully, those days are mainly behind me (no pun intended). Back to the point. I’ve decided to succumb to the trend of arrow-shaped art. Better late than never, right? I will love arrow art long after it is past its trendy expiration date too. Be forewarned. So, I was working on a cool piece of arrow art for the kitchen and as I’m staining away (using my easy clean-up method), it suddenly dawns on me. Wouldn’t this be the COOLEST…
Child Painted Horse Artwork
When my daughter was 5, we redesigned her room in Oregon. Gone were the baby things – she was a big girl! Part of the process included me trying to figure out how to incorporate some of my daughter’s artistic masterpieces into the space. The problem was that most of her artwork from school was just one random piece after another and I wanted a pair. Plus, I was hoping to get the artwork to be in the right color scheme. I asked her if she would be on board with making some art! When she found out she’d get to use my paints and brushes, she couldn’t get into her paint clothes…
How to Make Staining EASIER
It’s pretty clear I’m not a professional home improvement person, right? Glad we could clear the air with that disclaimer. Now, there are two things that bug me about staining (or really any DIY project): cleaning up and wasting money. Unless we are talking about a huge project, like a deck, I’m not going to waste time cleaning brushes after I’ve stained a teeny-tiny project. I also don’t like to spend money on the foam brushes. Even if they are less than a dollar, it still adds up. Plus, they don’t hold up that well. Yo! I’m a DIY rebel. Kidding, I’m not. I’m just uh, what’s a nice word…
Cookie Jar Refresh
Do you ever have those projects that go great in your mind, but then you finish it and it’s not quite how you imagined it would turn out? This is one of those projects. I received this apple-shaped cookie jar as a wedding gift 15 years ago. (Time flies!) I think it has only held cookies once though. Way back when we first got married, we forgot about whatever was placed inside. When I opened the lid weeks (months??) later, I was greeted to a gooey moldy mess. *shudder* *gag* Now you know why we binge eat cookies around here and then swear them off for months! 😉 Due to mold-fest,…
Lemon Meringue Pie Martini
Approximately 10 years ago we visited family in Eagle, Idaho, and they took us to a cool eatery called Bardenay Restaurant and Distillery. We had a drink there that night that we could not get out of our minds. And no, that’s not code for “we had too many.” Let me explain. Have you ever had lemon meringue pie? It’s tart, yet sweet and the meringue gives it a light, creamy finish. Now imagine if you put that pie in a martini glass. Are you with me now? Can you see how brilliant this is going to be? The Lemon Meringue Pie Martini at Bardenay’s tasted exactly like PIE. It was beyond…
5 Easy Ways to Celebrate the First Day of School
I don’t remember being super excited for school to start. Maybe I was early on – I hope so! I remember being nervous about getting to my classes on time and getting my locker open. I remember not being thrilled about the piles of homework. Since then, I have learned the power of the motto: “Fake it til you make it!” So while my kids are still young and take their cues from me, I want them to have the attitude that school is an AWESOME place to go. Where learning is fun and new experiences are to be embraced. And, thankfully, we’ve had really good school experience so far that…
