Happy Homemaker Monday Vol. 9

The weather:::
It's a bit cooler, overcast, and drizzly right now. I think that's the forcast for most of the week. I forsee lots of hot chocolate & Christmas movies in the future.

As I look outside my window:::
It's drizzling.

Right now I am::: 
Blogging & Thinking about so many things going on in the background of life. 

Thinking and pondering:::
My thoughts have been on Paris, and the heartache that so many people are going through. It makes my troubles seem much less potent.

On my tv this week:::
We usually watch Frazier, The Voice, and occasionally Fixer Upper. :)

Listening to:::
Curious George cartoon that's on.

On the menu for this week:::

Monday - Savory Roast, Homemade Bread, Mashed Potatoes, Salad, and Sweet Tea
Tuesday - French Dip Sandwiches 
Wednesday - Breakfast for Dinner
Thursday - Blackened Fish, Baked Brocolli (new recipe), and Mashed Potatoes 
Friday - Taco Soup & Pumpkin Poke Cake 
Saturday - Out
Sunday -  Leftovers
 
On my to do list:::

Laundry
Finish Putting Up Christmas
Clean Bathrooms
Put Away Laundry
Make bread
Edit Pictures

Happening this week:::
Lots of catching up around the house, and planning Thanksgiving side dishes. :)

What I am creating:::
Christmas pictures. I took a ton last night of Evie, and another family friend last night. We had so much fun, and the girls were being so adorable. Of course. Haha!

My simple pleasure:::
Pinterest for decorating & recipe ideas, sipping coffee with a treat. ;)  

Looking around the house:::
Well we got started on Christmas decor that way we don't have much to do come Decemeber. Lots of extra items still sitting around that needs to be sorted, and put away. I'll be posting pictures soon!

Linking up with Sandra today!

Prayers for Paris

Home Tour: Evelynn's Baby Bird Room

When we started planning Evelynn's room (our first born), we both wanted it to be both a peaceful and beautiful place. We chose the traditional color of pink with white & green accents. It was so much fun planning all the details, and watching it come together. Both of our moms helped with painting, re-doing furniture, and helping us pick out several pieces. Josh put together the crib, and hung the chandelier. The lighting was the most important aspect to him!

We spent a lot of time in flea markets trying to find the perfect dresser. We stumbled on an antique dreser that needed a lot of TLC. My mom painted it with white chalk paint, and we replaced the middle handle with a beautiful parisian knob we found at Hobby Lobby. The nursery theme was baby birds, so I was excited to find fabric via Coursel! His mom found those tiny baby birds for me to use, and they were the perfect addition. The lamp was my favorite find from Target! I stumbled on it one day, and it was $30. I decided to wait and see if I could find something simliar for a better price. A few days later I was at Target again when I saw that it was on sale, so I snagged it up for $20! Talk about an elated feeling. I also found the mirror at a flea market for a steal. It was an oak color, so Josh painted it using the same chalk paint that my mom used on the dresser. It turned out perfectly.

On the day we found out we were expecting Evie, we had a date night. I picked out this build a bear, and named him Mr. Snuggles. She sleeps with him every night, and he has been very loved by our now hyper toddler. <3

Everything came together perfectly, and it's still our favorite room in the house. Yet, in just a few short months we will slowly be changing out a few things for Evie's new "big girl" room. So, I needed to document all it's sweet little beauty for my future mama heart.

Details:

Crib: Wal-Mart (Charlotte Crib by Fisher Price)
Large E Monogram: Gift
Sheets & Quilt Fabric: Carousel Designs
Crib Skirt: Target
Rocking Chair: Gift
Ruffled Curtains: Target
Glass Lamp: Target
Sheer Fabric: Hobby Lobby

Linking Up: I Choose Joy | Tuesday Talk | Create It | The Scoop | Sunday's At Home

Simple Things

The last few weeks have felt like a whirlwind of craziness. Of course, hormones tend to wreck havoc on my usual "cool as a cucumber" (as Josh & my dad call it) personality. I don't usually get myself in a tizzy, and can keep my cool. But lately, the littlest things have made me want to crawl out of my skin. I haven't been the most pleasant person to be around. Cough, cough. ;)

Quiet time, drinking water, and just a few minutes of exercise have made a huge difference. It's funny how easy it is to lose sight of daily rituals when you allow the "busyness" of life to invade. I've also invested in several new Bible studies, all of which are very poingent for me right now. Two devotionals by Beth Moore, plus I am reading through a wonderful book by Vicky Courtney. I feel like God has been teaching me to be greatful for the little things. Otherwise, how can He entrust me with the bigger things?

Last night, Josh re-arranged our living room for me. I was hankering for a little change, and it was EXACTLY what I needed. I enjoyed cleaning the living room this morning simply because the new layout made my heart sing.

I'm so thankful for our growing family, our little home, and every tiny blessing that God has given us. Life is truly a gift.

Toddler Approved Finger Paint

We've had a rainy/drizzly couple of days, so I knew we needed a fun activity for this morning. I spent over an hour scouring different homemade recipes. I wanted to use ingredients that we already had, plus I wanted a toddler safe formula. Also, I didn't have food coloring so I used jello. I found one that used potato flakes of all things! Here's the recipe for anyone that's curious:

• Instant Potato Flakes
• Jello 
• Warm Water

Just mix equal parts potato flakes & jello (the more jello the darker the color), and add water slowly. Mix until you get the desired consistency. I left it pretty thick so it would be a little more fun to play with for Evie. :) The texture is very different from traditional finger paint which made for a great sensory play time, too. 

Needless to say, she LOVED it. Messy, but fun!

Sharing: Whip It Up Wednesday | Titus 2sDay | One Project

Bump Update!

The last two weeks were quite the doozey! I was eating a sub sandwich when I felt crazy intense pain in my back molar. The next morning, I was able to get into the dentist right away. Ended up having an emergency wisdom tooth removal, plus the wisdom tooth had cracked my back molar. Oh, the pain! I was feeling pretty good for a couple of days, then all the sudden the pain came back pretty intensely. I ended up getting dry socket (oh the joy!), which of course led to a migraine. I'm a pretty independent gal, and don't like asking for help, but I confess all that pain led to nausea. My parents happily helped with Evie so I could catch up on rest, which was a huge blessing!! I'm thankful that's behind me. :)

We are crusing along now at 27 1/2 weeks. The time has simply FLOWN by! I seriously cannot wrap my head around it. Ha! We worked on Ella's nursery this weekend, and I found some cute things while out thrifting. My find of the weekend was the cutest vintage dress that I will hang on her wall collage. I also ordered fabric for her baby bed blanket, and was able to pick out a couple other things.

Some of my dearest friends (Anna & Kristina) hosted a diaper shower for me yesterday. I told them to keep it simple, but they surprised me with a pumpkin themed shower! It was adorable, and oh my goodness...such a huge blessing! I came home with enough diapers to open a store! Haha!! ;)

I'm starting to feel that third trimester blah...it slowly crept up on me with Evie's pregnancy. Honestly, this pregnancy has been eerily similiar with timing/feelings/pangs/etc. I'm uncomfortable, starting to gain in my face, and just feel drained a lot. Ahem. But otherwise, doing well.

She will be here before we know it!! <3

Fall Swap Reveal!!

I participated in the First Annual Blogger Fall Swap Hosted by Johannah, Bri & Desiree! I've never particpated in one before, so I was excited to do so. My blogging swap partner was Justine from Full Hands Full Heart. Check out her blog!! Tons of great posts!!

My package was full of wonderful goodies! A gorgeous wrap scarp from Eleanora. The blue color is just gorgeous. A set of notecards (always useful!!), and of course my favorite part were the goodies from Bath & Body Works. I LOVE anything Pumpkin, and anything coffee related. The smell is amazing!!!! Definately a new favorite scent for me.

It was fun choosing goodies for someone else. Kinda like Christmas in fall, hehe!! ;-) Happy Wednesday! And a huge thank you to Justine for my lovely gifts!!

Goodnight Manger (Review)

This was my first book by Laura Sassi, and I was pleasantly suprised. It's written in rhyming form, filled with beautiful images,  and it is an excellent storybook for children of all ages. I love how she takes us from the moment Jesus is born and gives a little glimpse in what may have taken that place that night. It would make a perfect gift for the little ones in your life!

I'm excited to share this book with Evie on Christmas Eve! Many thanks to BookLook Bloggers for allowing me to review this book in exchange for my honest review.

9 Thoughts That Can Change Your Marriage (Review)

I truly enjoyed Shela Wray Gregoire's fresh take on sprucing up our relationship with our spouse. She takes nine very hard hitting subjects, and gives us simple "take away" tips to apply to those areas in our life.

For example, one chapter was on communicating with our spouse. She points out that women are geared for "face to face" chats, while men are more geared for talking while actually doing something together or "side by side" talking. At the end of the chapter, she shares different challenges to find ways to better communicate by finding activities to do together. That way our female need for talking is satisfied, and our husbands are more relaxed and open to sharing their hearts.

Here's a few other things that I really loved:

• We are not in competition with our spouse. Remember you are on the same team!
• Make it your goal to focus on the postitive aspects of our husband rather than negative.
• She reminds us the importance of intimacy within marriage for both our sakes.
• She reminds us that we are to be a peacemaker not a peacekeeper within our marriage. I found this specific chapter very riveting. I've never thought about it within those terms before.

Lastly, I felt she really drove home the importance of marriage via the last chapter, and I quote:

"You cannot be a good mother unless you are first a good wife, because the best gift you can give your children is to love their father."

All in all, I really enjoyed this book. I'm looking forward to reading more of her work in the future. Many thanks to Blogging for Books for my copy.

Autumn Days

Last week we loaded up and headed out to our first pumpkin patch visit of the season. Evie loved it!! The patch we visited offers play areas, and a petting zoo. She really loves animals, so I think that was probably her favorite part. She was excited to see all the pumpkins, and kept saying "Ohhhhhh". Well, we let her pick out a small pumpkin to take home, so I handed it to her for a picture. At first she holds it looking at me for the picture, then all the sudden she chunks it like a baseball! That got us tickled, because we seriously didn't even think about how she would react to holding one. Ha!

Five For Friday

Oh, TGIF! For some reason, I'm really looking forward to this weekend. Nothing big planned, but time with friends & family is always a must on my list.

...Right now, I"m loving my Verismo from Starbucks. We received it as our Christmas gift last year, and it has been such an AWESOME way to save money when it comes to our coffee addictions. My husband claims I'm the only one that's addicted, but we know that's not true. He drinks more than I do on average! Ha. Anyway, we are able to make latte's at home for a fraction of the cost! I usually spend $10 on a box of pods that usually lasts us for about 1 to 2 weeks. I've been "sweetenening" my coffee just a tad with the Cinnamon Brown Sugar or Pumpkin Pie Syrup from Torani's Syrups! They have such amazing flavors, and I just LOVE them.

...I'm also loving the fact I've downloaded a new show to watch on Netflix. Several of my friends told me to give "Call The Midwife" a try. I was a HUGE fan of Parenthood & Hart of Dixie, and had been pinining for another fun show to watch. I've also been watching random documentaries!

...I'm loving this stage that Evie is at. She's is so hilarious! She just chatters all day long, and it's the cutest thing. She learned to say "red" last week, and how to open our drawers. Round two of child proofing has taken place.

...I'm loving that I stayed home a lot more this week. I was able to REALLY deep clean the house. It feels SO good to have that finished for the weekend. Also, I was introduced to Gain's room spray. Um, how did I not know this existed? To say I'm in love with be an unerstatement (I wasn't paid to write this). It just makes our bathrooms and hallways smell so good.

...I've been enoying listening to Carla Bruni. It's the perfect background music for when I'm typing. I love her voice, plus I just enjoy listening to French once in a while. ;-)

Linking UP: Five at Love Made My Home | Five on Friday