Countdown Calendar Tutorial: A Repost

Last year I made this adorable Countdown to Candy calendar for Halloween. I love it so much that I thought I'd share it again for those of you who might not have seen it. I added a link to the original post with the tutorial.

{ Halloween Countdown Calendar Tutorial }

I can't believe it's already October 19th! Time is flying this fall. Before we know it we'll be getting ready for Christmas!

The Simple Things

This week I'm linking up for The Simple Things @ Simple As That.

Pumpkins!

Frame Gallery

I've been wanting to add a frame gallery to the wall that leads from our living to our kitchen forever, pretty much since we moved in here...4 years ago. I finally finished it this weekend. I basically put it all together for free.

I didn't have any money to spend on the project other than a few bucks for some white spray paint, so I used what frames I had around the house. Some of them were black, so I had to spray paint them. It's not perfect by any means. I would've loved to have bought all new frames in just the right sizes, but there wasn't money for that right now. However, I'm really pleased with how it turned out and it definitely adds a lot to the space.

I decided not to do all photos, but instead added other things to the frames as well. I already have quite a few photos hanging around the living room, so I didn't want to overdo it.

Hopefully I can continue to add to it over time and maybe even upgrade to some better frames along the way.

Oh, sorry about the photo quality. It's very dark and cloudy here today, so I had to turn on all the lights in order to get pictures without the flash.

The D is slightly crooked. Those letters are hard to get just right because the holes in the back are so uneven, but we're gonna try to fix it.

 One of the other pieces that I added was a fortune from a fortune cookie. I got it at the perfect time, so it has a lot of meaning for us. All I did was add some scrapbook paper as a background. I love it!

 This is one of Hudson's many paintings. I have an idea for some of his paintings that I found on Pinterest, which will eventually replace this one, but I haven't had the chance to do it yet, so that will be a separate post.

 I made this pebble piece while we were camping during the first year that Jeremy and I were dating. It's been framed in our house ever since and I'm so glad I added it to the wall where I can see it all the time again.

The rest of the frames are filled with photos we've taken and one of our wedding photos. I'm excited to have it completed and happy with the "free" price tag! If ever there are any major changes, I'll be sure to blog about it, but for now it's working just fine.

Week In The Life Update

So, I finished my Week In The Life journaling and photography on Sunday. It was a lot of work keeping up with it while trying to take care of a 3-month-old and a 2-year-old, but I can already tell that it will be so worth it in the end. I love that it's a way to document our ordinary, everyday life because those are the things that I'll forget 15 years from now.

I went to Achiever's on Monday night to pick up a We Are Memory Keepers binder scrapbook and the page inserts that are recommended on Ali Edward's blog. I also picked up a few sheets of scrapbook paper to fill areas with some color and in case I don't have enough pictures to fill it all! But I don't think that will be a problem! I took tons of pictures throughout the week and I saved things like recipes.

My hubby asked if I was sad that the week was over and if I'd miss doing it come Monday morning and at first I said no, but came to realize that I kept wanting to write things down all day! I did miss it...just a little!

I'm in the process of editing my photos and putting them all together. It will probably take me a while since I've never done it before, but I'm making Jeremy help me because he's much better at that stuff.

Hopefully I'll finish in time for Christmas because I'm contemplating doing the December Daily book along with Ali this year. Yikes! I'm obsessed...somebody stop me!

Did You Have A Sticker Book?

I was searching under our stairs for our Halloween decorations when I came across my childhood box that contained my sticker book. Yes, I am an 80's child and my sticker book was one of my favorite things growing up. My best friends and I were all sticker collectors and we loved to get together with our books. We would admire each others stickers and trade them back and forth. We even invented "The Giving Game" in order to obtain our favorite stickers from our friends without having to trade. It was so much fun!

Seeing my sticker book made me realize that I'd actually began scrapbooking way before I thought I had. These stickers were a record of the times. They represent what was popular at the time.

I have specific memories attached to so many of them, and seeing them again takes me right back to my bedroom floor with my best friends! I'm so glad that I kept them all these years!

I took some pictures of some of the pages to share.

This is actually my very first sticker book. My parents gave both my sister and I one for Valentine's day one year. I loved it, but eventually upgraded to a fancier version.

Here is the fancier version. A photo album with the adhesive added to the pages. We would stick and restick the stickers so many times that some of them weren't even sticky anymore.

This is my favorite page. A page completely devoted to all of my very favorite stickers. It would change all the time, but this is how it was when I stopped playing with stickers. See that round sticker with a pitcher of pink juice? That was one that got traded back and forth A LOT, as did that big hiking bear. That little pear on roller skates was a big favorite of mine. It's torn a little...

I was also in love with that tiny pumpkin and the little purple balloon! Oh the memories!!

 

Here is my shiny page. Yes, you are seeing that correctly. It is in fact a sticker version of the Michael Jackson glove. That one was traded more times than any other, and I proud to say that I have it in the end! That big glittery star was on everyone's wish list too.

I had a page devoted to balloons too.

And a page for Easter stickers. I always loved the arrangement of this page in particular. And I loved that sticker of the fuzzy bunny holding the lily.

Hudson was having fun looking through all the pages, but I think he liked my favorite page the best too!

There are so many more pages than what are shown here, but I didn't want to bore you to death! I just thought it was fun to look through and be reminded of simpler times when stickers were the most important thing in life!

Did anyone else have a sticker book? If so, I would love to see it!

Week In The Life Project

I learned about Ali Edwards blog through Becky Higgins and that's where I discovered her follow along project called Week In The Life. It's a week long journal and photography project documenting everyday life at that moment in time. Ali has been doing it for a few years along with her followers and her books are just awesome when she's done. This year she did it in the summer for the first time, but I discovered her blog a week after she completed her week, so I couldn't follow along with her this time. Instead I decided to pick a week in the Fall to do mine. I just started yesterday and let me tell you, it's a lot of work (as she mentions on her blog), but I can already tell it will be so worth it in the end when my book is complete. I think it will be fun to be able to look back someday and see just what exactly we were doing around here all day everyday! Since it will be a little while before I can show you my finished project, I thought I'd share with you some pics from Ali's blog:



All of these images are from Ali's 2011 Week In The Life.  They can be found by clicking here along with a great video about the process.

Ali's books are all really beautiful. I love the layouts and colors that she chose for this year's book. I can only hope mine will turn out to be half of what her's are! She is such an inspiration!

Her blog is great too! She shares all kinds of great, photography, project ideas and inspiration. You should go and check it out. You'll love it!

http://aliedwards.com/blog/

She also shares a list of all the product information on there as well, so you know where you can find all the supplies she used.

My Dream Neighborhood

Jeremy and I have this thing where we go get coffee and then drive around our dream neighborhood. We do it at least a couple times a month. Usually on a sunny Saturday or Sunday morning or when were trying to get the kids to settle down and take a nap! Anyway, I decided to take my camera the other day to take some pics of the entrance landscaping and a few of the houses. The pics aren't great because it was really bright and sunny, but the houses are still beautiful! The neighborhood is located along the Elkhorn River, so some of the lots back up to the river and the others are up in the higher area. There are lots with tons of trees and lots that are more open. There is even a natural walking path that runs through the whole area past ponds and a creek. Just awesome! I guess you could say we are kind of stalkers...

My favorite part of the entrance is the double waterfall. Amazing!

I love these trees. I have no idea what they are, but they're so pretty.

 This is the lot we want...I'm sure it will still be available 20 years from now! Ha!

These houses have amazing landscaping. You can tell that they put a lot of effort into making it look natural so that it blends in with the surroundings.

This picture does not do this house justice at all! It's located on a corner lot and has a small guest house built across the driveway. It's very private. I love the way they positioned the house on the lot. Plus, it has a water feature, but you can't see it driving by.

 This house has a cottage feel. I really like the front door.

 This one is situated further back away from the road. It's extremely private with all the trees. I think this one is my favorite!

These houses are so much bigger and prettier in person! I would love to build a house here someday! 

It's fun to dream, right?!

Yum!

This past week I managed to tackle two new recipes that I discovered on Pinterest (where else?!).  The first one was Cheese Pinwheel Rolls. I made them for us to eat during the Nebraska football game on Saturday.  They were super easy to make and quite yummy.  Here is the recipe:

Cheese Pinwheel Rolls

makes about a dozen rolls

Ingredients:

1 ball pizza dough (I used the Pillsbury pizza dough found in the refrigerator section)

2 Tbls. butter

1 – 1 1/2 cups shredded cheese (I used mozzarella, but you could use anything that melts well)

Parmesan cheese, grated

kosher salt

freshly cracked black pepper

garlic powder

Directions:

Lay our your dough on a floured counter. If you use a dough ball, roll it out into a rectangle.

Melt butter in microwave and spread with fingers all over dough surface.

Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Sprinkle dough with a thin, even layer of shredded cheese.

Sprinkle with a little kosher salt, fresh cracked pepper and garlic powder. You can also add other ingredients such as, herbs, olives, etc.

Roll the dough length wise into a long tube shape.

Cut it into about 12, 1 inch slices.

Place the rolls, face side up into an 8 x 8, lightly greased baking pan and sprinkle with more Parmesan cheese.

Set baking dish aside covered for about 30 minutes allowing the dough to rise slightly (Mine didn't really rise, so I'm not sure if this step is necessary).

Place in 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes or until tops turn golden brown.

They will bake together, so lift them out with a spatula and place on serving platter.

Pull apart to eat.

We ate ours with marinara sauce and they were so cheesy and yummy!

original recipe found here.

The next recipe we tried is known as "World's Greatest Sandwich" thanks to the movie Spanglish. I remember watching that movie and thinking how awesome that sandwich looked, but forgot all about it until I found the recipe on Pinterest. Actually, my friend Melissa pinned it first and I copied it from her!  Here is the recipe:

World's Greatest Sandwich

from Thomas Keller

makes 1 sandwich

3-4 slices of bacon

2 slices of Monterrey Jack cheese (We used Gouda because that's what we had on hand)

2 slices of toasted rustic country loaf (We used plain white bread)

1 tbsp of mayo

4 tomato slices

2 leaves of butter lettuce (We used Romaine since that's what we had)

1 teaspoon butter

1 egg

Preparation:

1. Cook the bacon until crisp, drain on paper towels

2. Place slices of cheese on one side of toasted bread. Place in toaster oven or under broiler to melt.

3. Spread mayo on other slice of bread top with bacon, sliced tomato, and lettuce

4. On non-stick skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Fry egg, turning over briefly when the bottom is set (keep yolk runny)

5. Slide finished egg on top of lettuce, top with other slice of bread (cheese-side down genius)

6. Place sandwich on plate and slice in half, letting yolk run down sandwich

I love a BLT and this sandwich just kicked the BLT up a notch.  It was delicious!  I think it will become a regular dinner around here!

original recipe found here.

Blog Your Heart-A Challenge

I came across a sweet blog called Just Me, My Soldier, and Our 4 Little Chicks while reading Ali Edwards blog.  She wrote a post called Blog Your Heart, A Challenge. She is challenging her readers to blog about whatever happens to be in their heart at the time. I think that sounds like an amazing idea, so here is my entry.

What's in my heart:

My heart is filled with so much love for my beautiful babies.  Hudson is turning into such a well behaved (for a 2-year-old) little boy and Harper is such a sweet, happy little baby.  They make our family whole and fill our home with happiness.

My worries for the past 8 months have been put to rest because my husband finally got a job today!  The company he worked for closed unexpectedly in February and he's been looking for a new one since. He has been working hard on a website he and his partners are launching here in Omaha soon, so I guess that was the reason that he didn't find a job right away, so that he would have the time to finish and launch the website.  However, times were hard. Things got tense.  We gave up a lot and had a new baby right in the middle of it all. But it doesn't matter now.  Now I can finally relax and know that we'll be okay...I can breathe again.

I need a little more "me" time. I feel like mom's aren't supposed to admit that they can't do it all and stay sane, but I'll admit it.  Being a stay-at-home mom is hard...so hard.  Rewarding, but hard.  Not to mention the fact that none of my friends stay at home with their kids.  My sister does, but she lives in a different city. My best friend does, but she also lives in a different city.  Bummer.  I just need to make sure that I take the time I need in order to be the best mom and wife I can be.

I also need to be sure to make time for my husband. So often the kids get all my energy and attention during the day that by the time my husband gets home, I don't have anything left. That's not fair to him. Plus, I miss our time together.

Well, that's all that's in my heart and my thoughts at the moment. I would love to hear from anyone who would like to partake in the challenge.  It's nice to know that there are others who can relate and understand the hardships and find the same joy in the simple things!

If you'd like to check out Stephanie's blog, Just Me, My Soldier and Our 4 Little Chicks, click here.

Fall Festivities List

I decided that since my family and I had so much fun with compiling and completing our Summer Family Fun List, it would be just as much fun to make one for the Fall as well.  I mean Fall is my favorite season and I absolutely LOVE all the activities, especially Halloween! So I threw together this list and thought I would share the PDF with you, so you can join in the fun!  It's a Word document, so you can even personalize it for your family. 

I apologize for the picture quality.  The lighting is sooo poor in this part of my house!

 Click Here for your own Fall Festivities List!  Enjoy!!

linking up here:
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Someday Crafts
Night Owl Crafting
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