As I try to change and evolve as a mother and wife I try to increase my interaction/involvement with the boys (our oldest could use less involvement but to me that means triple his!). I saw this on Facebook and immediately wanted to print it off and post it everywhere I could see it! Each one of the letters are so extremely important!
Sometimes you just have make breakfast a bit more fun!
I had searched a long time for a good prayer to put up in our house. But I couldn’t find just the right prayer and I couldn’t figure out where I’d put the prayer if I found it. I wanted it to be somewhere we could always see it and I wanted it to be a meaningful prayer for us all. Then while I was on my favorite place to get ideas (Pinterest duh!) I saw it…the answer to my search: the Stairs Prayer! Not only was the prayer perfect but it’s an Irish blessing which of course fits for our Irish family! It’s big and bold so you see it easily and it’s fun to say it as you’re going up the stairs!
Putting it on the stairs was easier than I thought (our youngest made every attempt to distract me by climbing on me) so I was thankful for that. Next I want to sand down and stain/paint the stairs just like in the Pinterest picture!
I love projects!
When we bought our house there were a couple of things that I really (REALLY) wanted to change. Our fire place was almost at the top of my list! Here’s why:
See? It looks like a tile shop got confused and just started assembling on my fireplace! For no reason at all I was sitting in our living room looking at it thinking “what can I do about this on a VERY strict budget?” Then I hopped on Google (aka Skynet) to look for info. After a short amount of research I realized this is an easy project with great results (in my world that’s a lot of excitement!) Once I realized I had everything I needed to complete this I went to work (literally right then I started on it…it was about 6 pm on a week night!). 
I started with the primer. I used two coats just to be SURE that brown tile was never seen again. You’ll notice no drop cloths and I didn’t even take the things off of the mantle…that’s how spur of the moment it was! I let the primer dry completely. I waited until the next morning to put on the paint. I wanted something neutral and “clean”. The old fireplace color was a distraction and it’s right in the center of the main wall in the living room. I also wanted to “spruce” it up a little bit so with the ideas from our middle son and the hubbin’ this is what I came up with:
We have white trim all through out our house. I really like the white trim because it looks clean and gives nice detail so I created the illusion of trim (hubbin’ and middle sons idea) on the fireplace.
To say it changes the feel of our living room is an understatement! Making this change has completely motivated me to upgrade other things in the house while staying on that very strict budget!
Breakfast for my Valentines!
I have really been MIA…I know. I have been spending a lot of time working on myself.
Some very serious bumps in our road caused me to really evaluate myself and my place here. It all started with my faith, as it should have. Those bumps in the road caused me to go on faith that I didn’t even know I had. Without my faith I was always missing…something. Once I started working on my relationship with God other things started to seem easier and actually more enjoyable. Don’t get me wrong- I still struggle just like everyone else. But that struggle seems more tolerable with God by my side.
I also had to clean out my relationship rolodex. I had to stop being around people that were negative and still holding me to the person I used to be…not who I am now. I also had to mend relationships I’d broken in the past. That experience was humbling.
Then came my marriage. As I’m sure the hubbin’ will confirm things have changed quite a bit! I have started to realize how important it is for him feel like he’s at the top of my list (newsflash right?!). Remembering that he is my husband was crucial. I know that sounds dumb…but it’s true.
Then the trickiest change of all came…being a mom. Honestly, I never took it very seriously. I mean clearly I understood that being a PARENT was important…but I never realized how important it is to be a MOM. Realizing that it’s not a title, it’s not a spot for power…it’s a privilege you are blessed with. Not everyone has the chance to be a mom. Once I realized that I have been blessed with three awesome boys that need me for more than “food and shelter” it clicked.
I had an amazing conversation with an amazing friend and she motivated me. To get up and do something. It’s a work in progress but at least now I happily pour myself into my family and home.
Stay tuned for new things…my path is in front of me now and I walk it in faith and love!
It has been a super long time since I’ve posted a blog! I can’t even begin to say what we’ve been up to but it’s been a whirlwind of growth through spirit, family, friends and fun!
Make no mistake- I’m still on my Pinterest crusade! Many (MANY) of the things we eat, do, make etc comes from Pinterest ideas! I had to create a board of all the things we’ve tried/done so I can keep track of the fun! This holiday season has already kicked off with fun ideas from Pinterest! We made blood shot eyes and mini caramel apples. We picked simple ones to add to our usual spooky festivities!
A few other things we’ve made/tried are:
My current fav frozen fresh basil (this is the gift that keeps on giving!!)
Amazing home made roasted tomato soup
Scrumptious Beef Stew
Old school crockpot oatmeal
Yummy pretzel candies
Bite sized pepperoni pizzas
Super soft (and easy!) peanut butter cookies
Stuffed animal band-aids
Secret Tooth fairy receipt
There are SO many other festive things instore for this holiday season! The menu for Thanksgiving has new items and old items with new twists! Christmas because it’s my FAVORITE holiday but also because we start celebrating it the day after Thanksgiving so it’s almost an entire month of making crafts and various yummies!
Here’s to hoping I can stay on top of my posting!
Happy pinning!!
It’s been so long since I’ve posted anything! We have been crazy enjoying the last bit of summer and preparing for school to start. That’s not to say I haven’t been busy on Pinterest finding new recipes and crafts for us… it’s just that I haven’t had time to slow down and post anything! One thing I did find on Pinterest that fell in line with our school preparation was this. It was super easy as we tweaked it to our needs and it came in handy even before school started. We could put up letters from the school about school starting, supply lists, school picture information and we hung their back packs up as we bought them so they could start getting in the routine of looking there for school stuff. The boards came from Walmart in the back to school area and were about $3 a piece. The boys liked them because they are magnetic and dry erase boards.
We call it the school zone!
We have been so busy this summer having fun! We’ve been cooking new things, gardening, landscaping, volunteering our time, hanging out with new and old friends…it’s been great!
We have tried so many new recipes form Pinterest I can barely remember them all! We made these cookies just yesterday to eat and bring with while volunteering at our church and they were a hit!! We’ve also made these snacks that are REALLY good, these popsicles (which weren’t that great according to the boys), this cucumber salad which is spicy but really good, these treats for a second time which when brought to a gathering seem to be really liked! I’m sure there’s more but I can’t even remember them all!
As always we’re looking to keep the boys on track by trying new ideas and thoughts. We’ve implemented new things that so far have been very constructive! We scaled our house back quite a bit with the electronics when we realized that the boys had a focus that wasn’t where it needed to be. So now no more cable (Netflix and Amazon Prime only for us!), no more Wii, no more 3DS… instead more focus on God and more focus on family. We started to realize the foundation of our little family needed to be…adjusted. I’m happy to say the outcome has been amazing! We only hope to have this momentum continue!
There has been many more smiles and memories made this summer and it has felt really good! Onward!!!
Well the garden has been really fun so far! Aside from a watering issue in the beginning (as in I was drowning the cucumbers!) I wasn’t sure that I would enjoy gardening as much as I am but let me tell you, it’s been amazing to put in so much work and really see the results! We have many large cucumbers and tomatoes, the herbs are really flourishing and since we decided to throw some garlic in the mix it’s grown a ton! Our strawberries really haven’t done much more after the initial couple which has been sad but we’ll see how the season goes. I love going out there everyday seeing what’s new and spending time weeding and watering. The boys LOVE seeing things grow and watching it all change! Just in this short time we’ve been able to really see how different everything is. On top of that my love of plants and gardening has expanded past the little boxed garden we have, I have planted so many other things as well! We have planted lilies as well so I’m excited to see how those come in next year! They survived the transplant and are flowering which is amazing! I’ve really been able to learn a lot about flowers and plants and just the general aspect of nature and it’s been really calming in a way. I’ve also been able to spend time with my mother in law who really loves plants and gardening! She lives in an apartment so she doesn’t have a place to plant…well she does now! We have endless planting area that we have created! We are calling it the infirmary because she has brought plants over that we’ve nursed back to health as well as plants she has found to see how well they’d grow!
Incase you have forgotten what our garden looked like before- here are some pictures for comparison…then and now! Not to mention we were planting in winter hats and now you break a sweat just being out there taking out weeds!
Mama Bear's Den 