Mother's Day and Container Gardening

My mom watched my boys for me this past Saturday while I was at work. She attempted a brave Mother's Day project for me with them. Something she saw on Pinterest - and I love it!

My mom and Malachi painted this terracotta pot blue and then came the brave part - painting their feet and pressing them onto the pot to make the butterflies. Zach apparently hated it and Malachi has such a high arch that she kind of had to fill in the gap, but I thought it turned out wonderful. Now I just need to take a sharpie and write the year on the bottom. =)

Next comes my little container garden. For my birthday gift, I said I wanted to take a trip to the local Farmer's Market and pick out some plants. I don't have super high expectations this year, but I thought I'd attempt a few veggies in pots this year. I'm pretty pleased with how it's looking so far.....

Left to Right: Carrots, Tomato, Cucumber, Zucchini, Green Onions & Salad Mix

Also, not shown are two more tomato plants hanging in TopseyTurvy planters and a bowl of spinach. Hopefully this will at least keep us in salad fixin's through the summer!

Nature Walk

This past Monday was my birthday. We had celebrated with family all weekend, so I was trying to think of something to do that was kind of low-key. It has been unseasonably warm here in the Pacific NW this past 10 days or so and I really wanted to get outside to do something! I checked out a few local hiking trails and found one I'd never been too.

Malachi loved it OF COURSE. There were bugs flying around and salamanders swimming in the water (eww!). At first Zach enjoyed his ride on Daddy's back, but about 3/4 through he wanted to be held - by me - the rest of the way around the loop. Oh well. =) It was a very fun trip - we ate lunch at a little picnic area and then walked the trails for a fun family time.

A New Big Boy Bed

It has been time to move Malachi out of his toddler bed for some time now. While cleaning out my grandma's house, my mom and I came across one of my uncle's old wooden twin frames. It needed some re-finishing, but it was perfect. 

When I got my supplies for painting my dining room table, I also picked up a quart of blue paint out of the "mistake" section at Lowe's. I was going to have them mix up a little sample jar of a navy blue paint, but then we came across this paint for $2.50! I just couldn't pass that up! I'll be able to paint the bed and probably his bookcase as well!

It's taken me some time to get around to actually finishing up the painting on the bed frame (I used the same method as the dining room table). Then it took my husband a few more days to get around to putting the bed together. Well... tonight we got inspired...

Malachi was in the playroom watching Cars 2. We put together the new bed, took the toddler bed out, re-arranged the whole room, switched out bookcases and made up the new bed. Then I got Malachi in the bath and dressed in the bathroom. We followed him into his room and he was so excited!! =) I've got to get him a comforter set or something to go with it. I had bought a construction-type sheet set on clearance at Target awhile ago, but these top blankets were just things a grabbed out of our linen closet.

Next on my project list will be to paint the new bookcase we put in his room. We had a tall and narrow thing that was holding his books before. It was leftover from something I'd had in my kitchen at one time. It wasn't really meant for books and many of them didn't even fit on it because the little cubbies were too small. I want to paint this new bookcase the same color as the bed - but here it is at the moment.

I can't believe my Little Guy is big enough for a Big Bed! 

10 Months!

My little Zach is 10 months old!! I sat in the rocker the other day and bemoaned the fact to my husband the other day. It's almost time to start planning a birthday party!

It's been a big month around here:

• 2 teeth have appeared! Hooray!
• I've heard some ma-ma's mixed in with all those da-da's
• We've had lots of doctor's visits, but in the end we got a good report
• He's started babbling WAY more (especially if brother isn't around!)
• He eats EVERYTHING in sight. He has started getting very upset if I don't share my food with him. 
• Our new trick is to hold our binky in our mouth along with the bottom edge... not sure what this accomplishes
• He's such a happy guy and likes to clap for everything.

Love this little guy!

Book Review: Unrivaled by Siri Mitchell

Book Details:
Title: Unrivaled
Author: Siri Mitchell
2013, Bethany House
ISBN: 978-0-7642-0797-6
Genre: Historical Fiction, Christian Fiction

Book Summary:
Falling in Love could be a Recipe for Disaster
Lucy Kendall returns from a tour of the Continent, her luggage filled with the latest fashions and a mind fired by inspiration. After tasting Europe's best confections, she's sure she'll come up with a recipe that will save her father's struggling candy business and reverse the fortunes. But she soon discovers that their biggest competitor, the cheat who swindled her father out of his prize recipe, has now hired a promotions manager - a cocky, handsome out-of-towner who gets under Lucy's skin.
Charlie Clarke's new role at Standard Manufacturing is the chance of a lifetime. He can put some rough times behind him and reconnect with the father he's never known. The one thing he never counted on, however, was tenacious Lucy Kendall. She's making his work life miserable ... and making herself impossible for him to forget.

My Review:
I have to admit there were parts of this  book I thought were a little outrageous  Some of the methods Lucy tried to get her father's candy business back on track, but I did like the book overall. The Kendall and Clarke families reminded me a tiny bit of Romeo and Juliet in the fact that they were basically not allowed to like each other. Lucy and Charlie are constantly trying to out-do one another in promoting their own businesses.

I really thought the family dynamics were interesting. Like all families, the Kendall and Clarke families are not perfect. Mr. Kendall is a dreamer with a wife who resents it and the Clarke's are just dysfunctional. Revelation and redemption are also important aspects of family life though and these families are learning that step-by-step.

There is lots of talk of making candy - Lucy spend quite a bit of time experimenting in the kitchen and also trying some yummy European treats and trying to figure them out. I thought all that candy information was a little facinating, since I felt the author was trying to be fairly historical in that aspect.

Overall it was a good read with fun characters. The storyline may have been a little far-fetched at times, but it was enjoyable and interesting.


Visit the author's website here.

Disclosure: The book was provided to me free of charge by Bethany House Publishers for my honest review. All opinions in this post are my own and I did not receive any other compensation.

Meal Organization/Planning

I am currently working on a new organizational project.... how it will end I'm not sure. =)

Here is the scenario I deal with quite frequently at my house:

I sit down to think of some things to have for dinner for the week. I ask my husband’s opinion on the matter. No one really cares. I write down a couple ideas. I am forced to go to the computer (usually to my Pinterest boards) to print off said recipes. Then I quickly try to figure out what additional items I need from those lists and then go off to the grocery store.

What is the problem you ask? I have a list. I’ve picked meals. Well… for one thing, I don’t usually plan ENOUGH meals – figuring I can just fill in the blanks with stuff we already have in the house or freezer. This would be a fine idea if I had enough staples lying around to do so. Hence, why we have pancakes or waffles for dinner at least once a week. Next problem is that I HATE it that we have a good selection of favorites, but I constantly have to search the web for their location and then print off another copy. Then that copy sits around in the kitchen until I finally chuck it in the recycle.

SO, I’ve decided to go through all our most commonly made meals and start myself a little folder – or recipe book. I don’t really want to transcribe all my recipes onto little cards, but I thought a nice folder of our favorites would really make my life so much easier. AND as I make new meals that we enjoy, I can just add a new page to the folder!

It sounds so simplistic – I mean, seriously what has been stopping me from doing this already? – but such is the way of life, I guess.

The second part of this plan is to make up a monthly meal plan. This would not be set in stone – our lives are way to busy to stick to something rigid – but instead of sitting down each week wondering to myself what we should have for dinner that week, I will have some ideas right in front of me. Things that are not a repeat of the week before!

Sounds great in theory right? Now to enact the plan…. =)

DIY Chalk Paint - Dining Room Table Makeover

A few weeks ago a friend called to tell me about some new phenomenon called chalk paint. I'd never head of it (how I'd missed this on Pinterest, I don't know). Apparently it requires no sanding or prepping and can be used on most surfaces. I had a couple painting projects I was thinking of doing, so I thought I'd look into it. The only drawback.... it's super expensive - like $30 something a quart! I wasn't sure I thought it was quite THAT cool, but thought I'd look up some examples. 

Well, what do I find??? DIY versions of this awesome paint. I'm just going post a link to the one I found most helpful, Testing 1... 2... 3... Versions of Chalk Paint rather than go into much detail about the different kinds of recipes. (I used the non-sanded grout version)

So I gathered my supplies - which cost me about $20 total and will last me for MANY batches of this paint - and tried it out on my dining room table.

Now this table has been working fine for us for a few years now. It's something I picked up on Craigslist with 4 chairs for about $80. The legs and base are wood, but the top was a fake wood laminate stuff - which was not too attractive. I bought two of those little sample containers of paint at Lowe's for $2.98 each and mixed up my paint to try to remedy the table look. 

I painted the top a solid dark brown and the legs an off-white. I sanded down the legs for a slight distressed look, which Malachi was NOT impressed with. He was very upset that I "scratched" the table. I had to finish the project after bedtime - when the critic was asleep. =) Distressing the top wasn't really an option, since it wasn't wood underneath.

I think the laminate made the grittiness of the chalk paint more obvious. I don't know that I would use it again on a non-wood surface, but I really liked the result on the legs. I used about fifty layers of paste wax on the top and it's still not exactly how I'd like, but I attribute it to what I painted over. 

I have been informed by a friend who has now used both the Annie Sloan paint and the DIY version that the real stuff is thicker and apparently doesn't smell. Although, mine was so thick I had to add more water, so I think there is probably some variation in how it is mixed when you make your own. It's nice that you don't have to sand ahead of time, but if the choice was sanding or spending $30 on paint - I think I'd choose sanding.

Next up I have a headboard and footboard I need to re-finish for Malachi. I think we're going to work on that today! I'm excited to see how it turns out!