Five on Friday

Both kids are napping, the weekend is here, and I'm sipping on a DC from Whataburger (because...classy).  Life is good.  I had no idea what I was going to write today until I started typing, so it's kind of all over the place, which I guess is nothing new.  

ONE. We have no plans tonight or tomorrow, and I couldn't be happier about that.  It feels like we have been playing catch-up for weeks, and I'm sooo excited to have a slow weekend coming our way.

TWO. After church on Sunday, I'm heading to lunch with three of my best friends to celebrate one of our bestie's birthday.  Gotta love girlfriends and fun traditions....and any lunch that includes wine.  Happy birthday, Tracy (aka Terry, aka Martha)!

THREE. Harper and I went to MOPS today while Izzy was at school.  I woke up feeling rather lazy, and toyed with the idea of skipping today.  I'm so glad I didn't.  Our guest speaker was a Child Psychiatrist who talked about the love languages of children.  I came away with some great information, and a better picture of the parent I want to be for my daughters.  I'd call that a win.  I will likely dedicate a post to what I gleaned from his talk next week.  

FOUR. I came across two blog posts this week that really spoke to where I am in this stage of my life.  Being a stay at home mom is a huge blessing, and a privilege that I do not take for granted, but there are so many days when I feel like "just a mom."  It is so refreshing to read something that validates my feelings and confirms that they are totally normal for this season of life.  They are both definitely worth a read:

What I Miss (And Don't Miss) About Working Outside the Home via House Tweaking

31 Days of Breaking Bread: For When You're Feeling Small via Blue Eyed Bride

FIVE.  I feel like I need these shoes.  That is all.

via Nordstrom

Happy Friday, friends!  I hope you all have a fun weekend, and as always, thanks for stopping by!!  Linking up with Hello Happiness, Momfessionals, and September Farm again this week!

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Photography for Dummies

Griff took these photos of the girls a few weeks ago, and I just love them.  We were out playing in the driveway, and the evening light was perfect.  Photos like these make me realize that we need to start using our camera more often.  We have a Nikon D7000, but most often, we just take pictures with our iPhones.  To tell you the truth, I don't really even know how to use our camera.  I mean, I've got the whole point and shoot thing down, but as far as understanding how everything works, what settings to use, and what it's really capable of...not so much.  Griff and I have talked about taking an online photography course of some sort for awhile now.  Listen, we aren't trying to start a photography business here.  We just want to take beautiful photos of our children, vacations, etc., and I think it would be something fun to learn together.  I've been looking at the Photography 101 class from Shoot Fly Shoot, and I think it might be a good option for us.  If you have any experience with this course, or something similar, I'd love to hear your thoughts.  

Go For The Gold

I've got several little projects going on over here.  As much as I try to tell myself "One room at a time," that's always easier said than done.  Currently, an accent table for the office, a flower pot for the front yard, and a playroom ceiling treatment are all in the works.  Makes sense to me.  Hoping to have them all wrapped up next week and ready to share.  Here's a little sneak peak in the meantime. I know the gold dipped look has been around for awhile, but I'm really digging it.  I had this accent table that I thought would be the perfect candidate for the gold treatment.  Hoping to finish it up tonight, and I can't wait to get it back into the office!

Here are a few gold-dipped inspiration pics:  

via Honey Bear Lane

via Burlap and Lace

via Project Nursery

Five on Friday

ONE.  I'm kind of obsessed with the Walmart Savings Catcher app.  Grocery stores are lacking around here, and although Walmart can be a huge beat down at times, I find myself there at least once a week for groceries.  If you aren't familiar with the Savings Catcher app, it allows you to scan each receipt, and it will compare your purchases with a ton of other stores.  If a better price is found at a competitor, you will be credited that amount.  I have only been using it for two weeks, but for two receipts, I have gotten $6.00 back.  Not huge, but I will certainly take it, and this will definitely add up over the course of a couple of months.  You can use your credit toward your next purchase, or you can save them until they reach a higher amount.  Isn't this super cool, or am I just easily amused?

TWO.  I was making my bed yesterday, and the comforter ripped as I was pulling it up.  I texted Griff to tell him the news.  This man knows me well.

THREE.  I've done a tiny bit of fall decorating indoors, but now I'm on a mission to spread a little fall cheer outdoors as well.  Pumpkins and some new fall flowers are on the agenda this weekend!

FOUR.  Also on the agenda is this disaster of a closet.  Out of control doesn't even begin to cover it.

FIVE.  Harper and I met some friends from our MOPS group at the park this morning.  We could not have asked for better weather.  Gorgeous day!

Happy Friday, Friends!  Hope you all have a great weekend!  Linking up with Hello Happiness, Momfessionals, and September Farm.

Good Food and Broken Stuff

Looks like this week has almost gotten away from me.  It happens.  I was so happy to welcome Monday this week.  Griff was gone from Thursday morning to Sunday afternoon, and while I love my children dearly, mama was ready to lock herself in her room for a break.

Over the weekend, I tried two new recipes, and I thought they were both worth sharing as they were quite tasty.

John Wayne Casserole - recipe and photo credit found here

I made this casserole early in the day, and put it in the fridge without baking it.  I took it to my parents' house for dinner that night, so I just baked it over there.  This recipe would be perfect to make for new moms, sick friends, potlucks, etc.

Pumpkin Zucchini Bread - recipe and photo credit found here

This stuff is amazing.  It is especially good if you warm it up and slap either a little butter on it...or, if you really want to get fancy, some brown sugar and cinnamon cream cheese.  Not that I would know or anything.  Ahem.  My little sidekick helped with the zucchini bread.  She was a skeptic at first.  "Zucchini is gross.  Nobody will want to eat this."  Sweet little dear.

Don't worry.  She quickly changed her tune.  "Harper I tried that pumpkin cornbread (ha!), and it was delicious!"

Thank ya'll so much for the feedback on the picture frames.  I've decided to go with option #2.  One of the frames arrived yesterday...completely shattered.  Awesome.

Friday Favorites

Hello Friday!  The little ladies and I are flying solo this weekend.  Griff is on his annual "Man Trip" with some of his best buddies.  He went to the store the night before he left to stock up on some supplies.  He came home with stuff like beef jerkey and bullets.  Lord, have mercy.

ONE.  Have you guys ever heard of a "John Wayne Casserole?"  Is this actually a thing?  I found the recipe on my mom's Pinterest board, so I'm going to make it tomorrow and take it over to Mom and Dad's for dinner.  Excited to see how it turns out.  Check out the recipe (from Six Sisters' Stuff) here!

via sixsistersstuff.com

TWO.  I ordered these pens from Amazon the other day.  I saw that Andrea from Momfessionals raves about them, and I'm kind of a sucker for pens, so I decided to try them out.  I love them so much!  Griff made fun of me for being so excited about pens.  Until he tried one.  He literally wrote two words with one of them and said, "I need a set."  Apparently he is going to use them to "Audit stuff."  Clearly, they are highly recommended by this family.  You can find them here.

THREE.  I got a little carried away yesterday.  There may have been some obsessive template making.  I am wanting to add some picture frames to a wall in my dining room, but I'm not sure of the exact layout I want.  I spent an embarrassing amount of time online shopping for frames, going back and forth to my dining room wall, measuring tape in hand.  I'm a visual person, and I can usually just imagine how something will look, and I could imagine all of these scenarios.  The problem was, I couldn't imagine which one I liked best.  Commence obsessive measuring, cutting, and taping.  Is this normal?  This can't be normal.  Here are the options I came up with.

Option 1

Option 2

Option 3

Option 4 - use your imagination to complete the 3x3 grid.  The template making was getting out of control.

Options 1 and 2 would be hung like this, with the knobs:

via Houzz.com

I think I've narrowed it down to option 2 and 4, but I would love to hear your thoughts!

FOUR.  Can we talk about Little Debbie Donut Sticks for two seconds?  I have no idea why I brought these into my home.  I thought the girls would like them, and that they wouldn't linger around too long to tempt me.  Well, neither child likes them (what is wrong with them??), but guess who has been eating one a day for the past week?  Yep, this girl in the elastic waist pants.  Ugh.

FIVE.  I could not be any happier with our decision to wait another year for Kindergarten (see that post here.)  Izzy is LOVING school this year.  She comes home singing new songs every day...songs about the five senses, directions (right, left, etc.), even her street address.  She finally wants to sit down with me and draw shapes, practice her letters, cut and paste, etc.  This.  Is.  Huge.  I love that learning has become fun for her.  She's been at her new school for 3 weeks, and I can already see huge growth.  And, more importantly, she is excited to go to school every day!  Such a blessing.

photo credit: www.sabrinagebhardtphotography.com

Linking up with Andrea again this week, and also with September FARM.  Cheer's to the weekend, friends!

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Office Before and After

How about a little before and after action on this lovely Thursday, shall we?  I posted about these bookcases that we painted and brought into our office a few weeks ago.  (You can find that post here.)  We finished up just a few days after that post, but I have been obsessing over tweaking the shelves since then.  I'm sure the tweaking will continue, because that's just how I roll.

The After

This room is right off our entry way, and I hated that it was one of the first things people saw when they came over.  I can't believe we didn't do this sooner.  I mean, look at that poor pathetic room.

The Before

I can't lie...I'm feeling pretty fancy about this before and after pic I made in Photoshop.  As you can see, in addition to painting the bookcases, we also painted the walls a nice and neutral gray.  I love how it looks against all the white.

And just as a reminder of what the bookcases originally looked like.  The power of paint never ceases to amaze me.  Overall, I am so pleased with these bookcases.  It's probably my favorite DIY project to date because we got such a big bang for our buck.

The Way Before

Paint colors:

Wall - Sherwin Williams Mindful Gray

Bookcases - Sherwin Williams Simple White

Inside Bookcases - Sherwin Williams Urbane Bronze