Exciting News {Giveaway!}

Good Morning and Happy Spring friends!

This month my blog was chosen to be featured on a fabulous blog I adore called 'Only A Breath'. Melanie is a super sweet blogger who decided she wanted to advertise some other blogs for a few months. So this month lucky 'ol me is being advertised! Yay!

So with that said, WELCOME to any new readers who came over from Only A Breath! I'm super excited that you're here.

I'm Kathy, a stay at home, homeschooling Mama. I have been married to my best friend Bob for 15 years and we have two sweet daughters - ages 10 and 9. I have always enjoyed being crafty and creative and about a year and a half ago I decided to try to turn it into a little business. Then a couple months ago I opened up my first Etsy shop and have been enjoying every minute since then!

I have a couple exciting announcements to make. First, I just made and posted LOTS of brand new, bright and colorful NEW products for Spring & Summer on the Etsy shop.

Second, for the ENTIRE month of April, I will be giving a discount of 12% off your TOTAL order!! Just use the coupon code SPRING12 when you check out.

AND, this week I'll be doing a giveaway! Yeehaw!

So here's what you can win ... One of my Fabric Covered Notebooks

AND ....

Any one of my Fabric Flowers!

 YOU choose which notebook and which flower you want!

What can you do with Fabric Flowers? You can wear them on a shirt or coat like this:

You can wear them on a favorite hat, or pinned to your purse or beach bag ...

Or, you can choose one of the flowers that has a hair clip on the back and wear them in your hair like this:

The hair clips are especially cute for little girls and would make a wonderful accessory for Easter dresses or hats!

So don't delay, comment here before Friday, April 6th at midnight EST and tell me what is your favorite thing about spring? {Answering the question is required for entry to the giveaway!}

Now, two other small favors I'd like to ask. Stop on over and check out my Etsy shop, Ranunculusly Cute Creations.

And, please stop over and say hello to Melanie at Only A Breath!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Monday, Monday

The past two Mondays have been my most successful days of the week! Today I:

Went to Aldi & Walmart and got my groceries for the week
Came home and put them all away
Helped the girls with school work
Made 3 new recipes from Pinterest! {homemade granola bars, apple chips and salmon pasta}
Vacuumed most of the house
Cleaned up the kitchen and cleaned the floor
Exercised for SIXTY minutes!
Ran to Staples and Walmart for stuff for the girl's school projects
And a bunch of other small, random things I got done around the house.

Considering the fact that I am usually super overwhelmed on Mondays and always feel like I'm turning in circles I am very happy to have accomplished this much today! I think the key is just get busy doing one thing and don't let myself stop or sit down. If I sit and THINK too long about what to do next I get overwhelmed, if I just DO IT than things get done! I need to remember that next Monday! =)

A Weekly Plan {Mar. 25-Apr 1}

How is it possible that it will be April by next Sunday?!

So last week my plan was to GET BUSY and I did pretty well. The beginning of the week I was full of steam and got a lot done. Towards the end of the week I got a bit lazy and slacked off a little. But I did get a bunch of new items made for my Etsy shop {which will be posted SOON!} and all in all I think it was a fairly productive week.

For the coming week my focus is going to be on good health. I have been doing pretty well for myself but have noticed that my girls tend to ask for snacks and treats all day long. And now that the weather is nicer I just want us all to be outdoors more and be more active. SOOOOO, this week I'm planning my meals again, and not just the dinners, but the breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks. I just finished raiding my pinterest files for some fresh recipe inspiration and plan to make healthy meals and healthy snacks and get us all eating well this week.

A few things I pinned that I plan to try are:

Easy Crockpot Chicken Tacos
Brown Sugar & Garlic Chicken
Spicy Sausage & Rice Casserole
Lemon Creme Salmon Linguine

Apple Chips
Homemade Granola Bars
Pistachio Pudding Dessert
Whole Wheat Apple Cinnamon Muffins

A couple other small random things on my to-do list are:
Get Etsy items posted
Mail packages
Do Bible study lesson


So another simple plan for the week, but honestly eating healthy and exercising are no small task so I feel like it's more than enough to work on for one week.

Hope you all have a wonderful week!

Special Memories Box

I have this large Rubbermaid box filled with special memories. Do you have anything like that too? Do you save important things that mean something to you? I certainly don’t keep EVERYthing, but I do hold on to things that are special to me. Some things are sad, some happy, some I keep because I know my memory will fade with age.

 

Here’s a little glimpse into the things I’ve kept in my Memory Box …

Magazines from horrific tragedies. Why would I want to remember this, I’m not sure. But it was a changing moment in our Nation’s history and I remember the day vividly. So I wanted to keep these.

Teeth. Again, you’re probably saying, why?! But these are many of my girl’s baby teeth and maybe some day I’ll throw them out, but for now I feel like they hold sentimental value. =)

Cards. Lots and lots of cards! I don’t keep every single card I’m given, but if it has a sweet message written or is a nice card from my hubby or kids I save it. It’s so nice to feel loved and reading the old cards makes me feel loved.

Crafts and things my girls have made for me. Again, I don’t save everything they make or give me, but there are a few special things saved in my box.

Memorials. I’ve lost some pretty special people in my life including my Dad. I saved the Memorial tape from his funeral, the DVD of pictures from Bob’s Grandma, and many of the wonderful sympathy cards that were given to me. I just feel like it’s my way of not forgetting these special people in my life.

Along with that is this picture of my parents, taken just a couple months before my Dad’s cancer diagnosis. My Mom is so grateful they had these photos taken!

My Grandma’s old Bible. When she died it was the one and only thing I wanted from her. It has her beautiful handwriting throughout and is very well worn and loved. Have you heard that saying ‘A Bible that is falling apart usually belongs to a person that isn’t.’ Well that was SO true of my Grandma. She was an amazing woman of God and a great example to me. I’m proud to have her Bible and read through all her notes. In the second pic you can see there are tons of little notes and scriptures written down and were all kept tucked in her Bible.

Journals, diaries, prayer books, whatever you want to call them. Most of them were never fully filled up. I’d always get a new one and be anxious to start writing in it so I’d never finish filling up the old one. They hold stories and memories and prayer requests and praises and notes and ways I’ve grown and just about anything else I could think of to write down. I love looking back through them and reading some of the stuff I wrote.

And that’s about it. There are a few others little odds and ends in my special box, but for the most part it’s filled with both happy and sad memories of my life.

I’m so thankful for tangible ways to remember life’s moments by. I know my memory wont’ last, so all these special things are great reminders for me.

A Weekly Plan {Mar. 19-25}

So I've really fallen off the wagon with keeping up with my weekly plan. This week I've decided will be different, however, I'm going to keep it simple ....

Ready for this? My weekly plan is to ....


Get off my butt! Yep, that's it! In every way, shape and form I need to, want to, plan to get off my butt and get busy.

Working out - yep!
Eating healthfully - yep!
Organizing and deep cleaning - yep!
Clearing more junk outta my house - yep!
Finishing projects and crafts - yep!
Getting outside more - yep!

It's ALL included in this week's plan. I need to log off, shut down and just get busy.

Today was a VERY good start. I usually feel super overwhelmed on Mondays but today I just decided to go full steam ahead and work my butt off. Here's what I got done today:

* did my quiet time and computer time before anyone else was up
* went and picked up my curbside grocery order
* came home and realized my fridge was nasty, so cleaned it out before I unloaded the groceries into it - then realized the pantry was nasty too - so cleaned that out as well
* got the girls busy doing their school work
* did dishes
* cleaned kitchen and swept/mopped floor
* cleaned bathroom and swept/mopped floor
* cleaned dining room and vacuumed
* cleaned living room and vacuumed
* deep cleaned my bedroom, got rid of lots of junk, reorganized my closet, switched out some winter/summer clothes, vacuumed the whole room and all the monsters under the bed
* posted some stuff for sale online
* made homemade Olive Garden salad dressing
* delivered a bookshelf to someone who was buying it from me and picked up a bike for my daughter that I was buying from someone else
* swept the porch
* folded and put away several loads of laundry

Hmmm, I think that might be it ... I lost track! But it was a busy and very successful day! The weather was absolutely HOT here today and it was wonderful to have all the windows open. The girls put on swimsuits and played with the hose all afternoon - can't get much better than that for mid-March!!

Anyway, it's been a good day and I'm exhausted, let's hope by the end of this week I will have a LOT more things checked off of my to-do list! =)

Sisters & Friends

I'm not very good at keeping track of the everyday moments that make me smile. So today you're getting a totally random post that is more for my memories than anything else. ;)

My daughters can be each other's worst enemy and best friend, all in the same day it seems.

Yesterday when my youngest had the pukey bug the oldest was trying to find things to do to keep herself amused without her playmate. She actually did a pretty good job - going outside to rollerblade and doing some painting on the porch - but I could tell she was also a little lost without someone to talk to/play with.

Today the youngest has made a 100% turnaround and is back to her usual, bubbly, chatty self. I told her she needed to take a bath or shower today so she chose bath {a rare treat around here and she LOVES to play in the water FORever}.

So with one in the bath, the other was again left without anyone to play with. So what did my clever girl decide to do? Pull out the foot spa, take it in the bathroom where her sister is, and soak her feet! I can hear the two of them in there right now just jabbering away to each other.

I'm so thankful for my two girls. I never had a sister when I was growing up and I'm glad my girls do. Even though their personalities are different and they sometimes get on each other's nerves, they also have a lot of fun together.

Spring is coming!

And you have NO idea how happy that makes me! The past 3 days have been absolutely gorgeous, I'm talkin' put on jeans, a t-shirt and flip flops gorgeous! Being that is my all time favorite 'uniform' of choice I am ONE.HAPPY.GIRL.

Last week we went to the park for the first time in months ... it was super windy but the sunshine was wonderful.

I've had open windows a LOT lately ... ahhhhhh, even the pup is loving it!

Last week at the grocery store I bought myself a couple little plants for my kitchen ... I just needed a little bright, cheerful color in the house and these were perfect choices. The little shamrock plant is growing like crazy and the Iris bloomed within just a couple of days. {Hoping I can plant them?}

Spring has me in a spring cleaning and CLEAN OUT mood. I may have said this in the past but in summer I just want to relax, enjoy and have fun - so in spring I work my butt off to clean out, do projects and get my house in order again.

I worked on youngest daughter's room the other day and cleared out SO.MUCH.STUFF. Do your little girls have ten thousand buckets, baskets, boxes and such? This girl had every size and sort that you can imagine and of course every one was filled with ALL sorts of little toys, trinkets and treasures that she just HAD to keep. My oh my, it was a LONG day cleaning that room out but it's SO much nicer now.

*My trick for taking on a task like this is to do it ALONE and not allow the kids to see all the 'junk' that I throw away or give away. Trust me when I say that she will NOT miss the stuff and will not even notice what is gone!*

Some of my little flowers are even blooming outside! I think this is the earliest I can remember seeing stuff bloom.

And look ... more green pushing through the earth ... yay for spring flowers!

Today was one of those days that you can NEVER anticipate. Today was supposed to be the first day of Ladies Bible study, remember the one that I said I was asked to co-lead? I was truly excited and spent lots of time preparing for it and making sure the girls and I had everything ready for the morning. I went to bed early and everything ... well in the middle of the night we were woken up by my daughter throwing up. UGH ... my first thought was 'what about Bible study? What about MY plans for the day?' -- but then I remembered that God doesn't make mistakes. He knew how my day would go. He planned it all perfectly. I was reminded of that verse that says something about how we can plan our day but the Lord directs our steps. {can't find the exact verse or reference right now!}

Anyhow, now we've been given the gift of a sloooow day at home. Which means the girls will relax and I will get some house stuff done. Sort of a blessing in disguise. Oh and of course I'm hoping for a nap since I've been up since 4:45 which is SO not my wake up time!

And we're praying that no one else gets sick and this little one is all better real soon ... thank goodness for popsicles and Powerade today {and open windows to air out germs}.

So yeah ... Happy Spring ... it's on it's way and I'm super duper glad about it. Have a good Wednesday friends!

Today

Today I love ....

* that it's a MUCH sunnier week than last week

* that my oldest prepares the snack and this is what she comes up with

* gigantor strawberries

*the most adorable, snuggly pup when she's all curled up on the couch

* beautiful sunshine streaming in, enjoying a hot cup of coffee in a quiet house while the kids are at Grandma's and hubby is at work

* running outside today since it was so nice out

* looking at blogs for decorating inspiration

* resting my feet on the old, worn ottoman

* texts from friends and hubby throughout the day

* a girl's night out tonight while the kids are at Awana

* being back at Ladies Bible study this morning

* women's voices, raised in worship for our Lord

{PS. My two fave coffees lately are GM Caramel Vanilla Cream & GM Golden French Toast ... mmmmmmmm}

{PS2. or is it PPS.? I know I shouldn't let the pup on the couch, if I didn't I'm sure I'd have nicer smelling furniture, cleaner furniture and furniture that didn't have worn cushions from dog's nails - but I've never been able to resist letting them snuggle with us on our furniture so I put up with the rest. ;) }

Happy Wednesday Friends!  

A Baking & Organizing Day

Part of trying to eat healthy is just simply being organized and having the right foods on hand. Most weeks I order my groceries online on Sunday night, and pick up curbside on Monday morning. It's great to start the week off with a full fridge and lots of fresh foods.

Today I decided it was also a good day to prep a bunch of things so not only is the healthy stuff 'in house', but it's also prepped and ready to go during those busy times. I mean a bag of Romaine lettuce is no good to me if when I'm totally starving it's still in the bag and not ready to eat yet!

I also wanted to tap into my Pinterest finds and make some of the things I've been pinning for months.

So here we go, first off I made some Taco Seasoning, this is something we use ALL the time and love so I actually quadrupled the batch.

Then I made a batch of my favorite Banana bread. This was actually my Grandma's recipe and it's always a hit. I will include the recipe at the bottom of the post. {It makes one large loaf or 3 of these mini loaves.} We ate one mini loaf for a snack this afternoon and froze the other two to use another day.

Then I cut my lettuce, washed it in the salad spinner and chopped up my veggies.  I keep the salad in the large bowl of the spinner in my fridge so I can have fresh salad whenever I want.

I made a batch of Crystal Light Pink Lemonade {my hubby and kids love it} and a pitcher of Green Tea with lemon {which is my fave drink of choice most days}.

Then I did homemade Whole Wheat Waffles. I would so much rather make these than buy Eggos! This batch made 8 LARGE waffles which I froze so the girls can have them for breakfast by simply reheating.

Then I *tried* to make homemade Almond Butter. Mine didn't come out so great but I don't have a food processor so I'm wondering if that is why? It still tastes pretty good, just isn't very creamy. I need to invest in a food processor!

I also tried the to make the Chocolate - Coconut Mousse from Pinterest but it also didn't come out quite right. Maybe I need to learn to follow directions better?! =) Mine was too runny and never really got thick and fluffy. So then I decided to freeze it and just eat it like frozen yogurt and that was pretty good. My girls didn't love it, but they don't really care for coconut and you can definitely taste the coconut flavor!

I hard boiled a dozen eggs so that we can use them on salads or make egg salad for lunches.

Lastly, in my crock pot cooking all day I did BBQ Pulled Pork. I honestly didn't follow much of a recipe. I basically just put a large Pork Shoulder roast in the crock pot and dumped a bottle of Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce over the top and let it cook all day on low. It turned out amazing!

And that was my day! It's not as time consuming as it seems, I actually had many things going on at the same time {which makes for a messy kitchen!} so it probably only took a couple hours for everything.

Here is the Banana Bread Recipe:

2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup shortening {or butter}
2 med. ripe bananas, mashed
2 eggs
{Optional mix ins: chopped walnuts, mini choc chips, etc. Add 1/2 cup if you want but the bread is just as yummy without any extras.}

Mix everything together except your add ins. Stir those in by hand. Pour into a loaf pan that is greased or sprayed with Pam. Bake at 350 degrees for 65-75 min {for one large loaf} or 40-50 min {for smaller loaves} Bread is done when a toothpick comes out clean.

What have you been making lately?

Regular Life

So I have been totally neglecting my blog lately. I’m sorry, I just don’t know why but I’m in such a funk lately. I’ve been feeling SO, super tired ALL the time lately, been getting little annoying headaches every day and just feeling blah. I’m sure some of it is the grey weather we’ve had for the past several days. But wish I knew why I was so tired every day. It’s frustrating to feel so drained all the time. {and it’s not like I have babies who wake throughout the night!}

Anyhow, with that being said, life still goes on at it’s usual busy pace! Here’s a little bit of daily life around here lately …

Reading and school work.

We’ve been eating a lot of sugar free jello or sugar free pudding as our evening snack lately.

My ‘baby’ turned NINE! Where has the time gone??

She always finds the sunniest spot in the room to curl up, it’s so cute!

More school work…

Dissecting flowers and fruits/veggies {this was actually a very fun and yummy science day!}

A nice day, almost felt like spring! Playing with ducks in the stream.

The girls had their last Upward Basketball games for the season. So bittersweet! It’s been a WONDERFUL season for them both, but we’re also looking forward to a spring with 2 extra free evenings per week and having our Saturdays free again!

And that’s about all for now. I’m sure there’s much more I could say and more stuff we’ve been up to but I’m keeping it short and simple tonight. Hopefully the SUN will come out again this week and things will brighten up around here!