Teacher's Appreciation is Coming!

 Teacher's Appreciation is here once again and it's so much fun!  Teacher's need to feel loved on.  They have the hardest job taking care of our littles and big kids, teaching them, loving them, and dealing with all the politics and pressures that come with their job.  They work way more than they are paid for in order to make your child's day fun and enriching.  Last year, I got the fun job of organizing our Parent Club's celebration for the teachers and I created some tags to go with some treats that were put in their boxes each morning. 

At the bottom, you can find the links to each printable.  Feel free to print out some and use them to bless your teachers!  Please use them for personal use only. 

starburst / kit kat / M&Ms

You can find more printables & ideas here, here, here, and here. 

Connection Time!

Well, it's safe to say that we are starting to countdown to summer!  We are incredibly ready for lazy mornings and adventure!  Today, my oldest actually got up and got ready without dragging.  I think it had something to do with his field trip to a local gymnastics place, because I know if given the opportunity he would stay in his pajamas and watch a good show curled up on the couch with his favorite blanket.  He is is mamma's child.  Mornings are hard. 

But, we are pressing in and enjoying a beautiful spring.  It might even rain today. . . I emphasize might, because it is slightly breezy out and crystal blue sky out there. (UPDATE: I took a break and went and picked up Ethan from school. . . it went from sunny to stormy with a snap of the finger!  Bring on the Hail!)  Baseball is in full swing and I am having fun watching Ethan try something new.  He's having fun!  We're having fun!

Today, I just want to catch up and get connected with everyone.  I started this last month and I would love to hear what you guys are seeing, doing, thinking.  Join in the fun on Facebook or in the comments. 

 Here's what's happening in my word. . . 
 
Outside my window...The sky is getting super dark and the wind is blowing.  I am pretty sure that I will have to re-sweep the patio after all the bottle brush needles fall to the ground.  I am love a good storm!

I am thinking...That there is a good chance that I should finish making my list for this week.  I know I am going to forget something! Oh, and next week is teacher appreciation week. . . please spoil your teachers. . . they need love!

From the kitchen... This week, my kids have devoured there way through a batch of pumpkin muffins.  Right now, there is carne asada marinating, and beans in the crockpot, and some bananas screaming to be made into banana bread.  I also made a very large batch of cold brew for an upcoming gathering of ladies. 

I am wearing...yoga pants and a sweatshirt.  I got up and got 2 miles in this morning, and have been working like a crazy person trying to get cleaning and school in. 

I am creating...Right now there are some top secret things happening in the craft room.  I am also working on Teacher Appreciation stuff for Ethan's school for next week.  It's safe to say, that the craft room is crazy right now!

I am going... sit here and enjoy the quiet, while I sip the latte I just made.  I've got tired kids and I just waiting for a meltdown to happen (and praying that it doesn't!). 

I am reading... I just started a book by Dee Henderson, called Full Disclosure.  It's one of those books that's just been sitting there waiting for me to pick it up.  It might get put down for a bit, because when it comes to fiction, once I start, I have a hard time stopping.  Anybody else have that problem?

I am hoping...that it rains.  Maybe even a power outage. . . that would be awesome. 

I am hearing... the clink clink of legos and the wind blowing.  I can't hear my washing maching going, so I should probably get up and go switch it over. 

Around the house... A few piles, evidence of Weston learning about flowers, fresh flowers that I bought yesterday, and clothes that need put away (why is this so hard?!?!). 

One of my favorite things...My husband's gas grill.  I won't lie.  We are charcoal people, but I am loving the gas grill.  I use it way more than my husband and seriously, it's one less pan or dish that I have to clean.  I think that's why I use it.  Plus, the meat comes out so moist and juicy this way!

A few plans for the rest of the week: Breathe.  It's going to be busy, but I am going to breathe and get what I can get done done.  Wow.  Weird sentence.  Sorry about that. 

What I'm listening to:  I'm not listening to much this week.  But, I have watched all of season 2 of Girl Meets World. 

So, now your turn:

Copy and paste your favorite, or all of them and try it out in the comments:
Outside my window
I am thinking
From the kitchen
I am wearing
I am creating
I am going
I am reading
I am hoping
I am hearing
Around the House
One of my favorite things
A few plans for the week
What I am listening to 

Happy Connecting! 

Living Room Fun!

 I still sit in shock that we bought a house 6 1/2 years ago.  When we bought this house, Ethan was 2 and we were slowly outgrowing our 2 bedroom upstairs apartment.  This house was not my most favorite of all the houses we looked at, but we loved the area of town, the school our son would attend and quite honestly, my best friend lived (and still does) 2 minutes away by car.  Our very amazing realtor and my husband kept reminding me of the potential of the house, because it was hard (at that time, I wasn't watching a ton of HGTV shows!). 

Our home is a 1966 Headliner home.  It has 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and a living room/dining room kitchen and family room.   Our kids share one bedroom and we use the other one as an office/craft room. 

Today, I share with  your our front room.  This is my favorite room and it took a long time.  We don't ever do a project without the money to do it.  We aren't going to go into debt to make our home amazing, but we do want to have a home that welcomes you in and makes you feel comfortable.  

 This is how it looked when we first moved in.  All the windows had already been changed out to Dual Pane (another one of the selling points to this 1966 home).  The white paint was old and had scuff marks all over it (you can't tell in the pictures. . . it wasn't that pretty!).  It was also really hard to arrange our furniture with the layout of the room.   And that carpet (yep. . . it's orange!)!  Eventually our sectional couch moved to the family room and for awhile there were just book cases in here.  When we hosted Bible Study, we sat on the floor.  It really wasn't comfortable.  Oh, and the drapes came with the house. 

In Spring after we moved in, we painted as many rooms as we could.  The walls just screamed, "paint me!"  And paint is super cheap (compared to other projects).  It was also 6 years ago, when painting crazy colors was a little bit more trendy than it is now.  Even so, we painted it and Jon picked the color and it is wonderful.  A year later, we bought the couches and chair and then last summer, we redid the floors.  Our home, I think, will always be a work in progress.  I don't mind.  

I think one of my favorite parts of this room is the collage wall.  It took awhile to talk my husband into it, but once he saw my vision, he started hammering.  We still have a few things to add here and there, but generally, this is our finished room.  I can't wait to show you the rest!

Sources:
Paint:  Midnight fog, by Valspar
Couch, chair & ottoman: Ektorp, by IKEA
Bookcases w/glass doors: Billy, by IKEA
Expedit: also IKEA, but now they have the Kallax, like this one
Flooring:  Costco's Honey Maple Laminate Flooring
Coffee Table and End Table: Hemnes, by IKEA
The side board and shelves are all Target.
Rug, Nate Berkus for Target (no longer available, but the small one is)

What's for Dinner {Catching up edition}

It's been a while since I've posted a "What's for Dinner" post, but I thought I would do a quick catch up really quick.  I've made a few new things the past few months, but there are have also been some lazy weeks and I think one week we just weren't home that much.  There have also been some repeats from previous "what's for dinner" posts like Pioneer Woman's Simple Sesame Noodles and this BBQ chicken (it's my go-to recipe now!).  So here are 5 of the meals that stuck out to me as Yummy! 

Slow Cooker Pork Carnitas

This recipe was amazing.  I probably won't use anything else but this from now on.  I used two pork tenderloins and it made the meat so flavorful!  We made tacos and taquitos out of the meat and even froze some for a quick dinner another night. 

Honey Soy Chicken

This recipe took the place of one that I had planned and then decided not to do it after all.  It was quick and easy and pretty flavorful.  We had it with rice.

Everyday Meatballs

When Dee at Smitten Kitchen blogged about these, I knew that they had to be on our menu the following week!  I ended up making a double batch (we will be eating them tomorrow night, in fact!) of the sauce and meatballs, so I could freeze some.  We made meatball subs the first time and tomorrow night, we will use the sauce for our Spaghetti.  I can't wait to eat them again! 

Lemon Chicken Fettuccine (Dairy free!)

This was delicious!  No one even noticed that there was no cream used in the making of this dish!  We will definitely try it again! 

Bacon and Avocado Macaroni Salad
My  husband doesn't eat mayonnaise or avocado so I have to make recipes like this when I have friends over for lunch.  This one was delicious and super simple.  I can't wait for another excuse to make this! 

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If you are looking for more yummy recipes, if you look below there are links to other posts that are similar.   Usually other what's for dinner posts are down there.  Soon, I will have a whole page for you to go and click on the links.  What meals have you been making?  Please post in the comments!