Still Having Fun on Pinterest!

I love just sitting and pinning and pinning and pinning.

It really is addictive.

With a little motivation; beautiful, helpful and delicious things can be created!

Dinner tonight was inspired by a pin. Instead of making guacamole, I added freshly cut avocado slices. I loved it! KC and Audrey said they still prefer BLT's but it definitely ranked higher than a grilled cheese sandwich.

Find the recipe here . . . thanks to Closet Cooking. YUMMY!!! It's basically a grilled cheese that I added tomatoes, bacon, pepper jack cheese, Colby cheese and avocado to.

•     •     •     •     •     •     •     •     •     •     •     •     •     •     •     •     •

The girls and I went to a ceramics place to paint some pottery. We went out in the last big snowstorm, and I wasn't sure that we should attempt the 2 mile journey.

There is little that will keep me from a quiet night out, so we went and had a great time.

I don't know what it is, but the girls are so quiet there. I think it's the combination of not wanting to talk loudly in front of strangers and the concentration it takes to paint their special piece.

We chatted away, quietly, and painted for 3 hours.

It was so relaxing.

Of course we came home to craziness, KC and Cam playing the Wii while the twins were running in circles.

They always seem so much louder after some quiet time away. Truthfully, I was hoping for them to be tucked into bed.

We just got our pieces back.

Audrey's treasure box

Zoe's bank.

A little of Pinterest seeped into this project too :) I just love all the quotes and sayings, so I wrote about 12 of them on the mug . . . all about love  <3

I also planted a pineapple top. Why? Because I saw it on Pinterest and had a pineapple, of course  :)

And why not? If it works, and actually roots, it'll be a cool thing to show the kids. It will not be a pineapple tree, it will not produce pineapples . . . but it can make a new houseplant.

I was cutting up some celery for the kids and remembered that my sister-in-law just posted that she planted the bottom of her celery, so I did that too :) Thanks Tracy! It's already growing on day one, kinda crazy. I'll let you know how long I can keep it alive.

See the little spikes on top of the celery . . . that's the new growth, not there yesterday when I planted it.

Here is the link on Pinterest that will take you to all sorts of things that you can plant . . . Tipnut

. . . . I have plans for the avocado seed from tonight's dinner too  :)


And this is my favorite from my week of projects!

Now all I have to do is go downstairs and find a frame for it . . . I'll probably make a mat for it too.

I changed mine a little from the one on Pinterest, to fit what I wanted. Here's a link to my inspiration . . . The Memory Gallery . . . thank you.

I also have a kid's chore chart in progress. I'll share that with you soon. I am very excited about it. I used a number of ideas on Pinterest to help me with this one and combining what works for my family.

The kids have chores, I just think that a more organized system would work out better for all of us.

That's all for now . . . HAPPY PINNING EVERYONE  : )

A Meal with No Fuss

Sometimes simple is better.

Especially when mommy has a headache. I think I have a head cold.

It's on days like these I realize that the volume of our home is . . . loud.

Dinner is usually the noisiest time of the day. I think it's a combination of the girls coming home from school and the boys waking up from their naps.

All that energy colliding at the same time is deafening.

So because of the headache, today was a good day for a meal that I knew everyone would eat without a fuss.

PINTEREST #4 hot dogs poked with spaghetti noodles & macaroni and cheese on the side.

I know the noodles are redundant but my kids don't understand hot dogs without macaroni and cheese. And the spaghetti noodles in the hot dogs, well that's just fun.

Dinner went as planned. No fuss, happy kids, full stomachs :)

•     •     •     •     •     •     •     •     •     •     •     •     •

Other big news of the house. I am attempting to potty train Emmitt.

For a couple days, I was trying to potty train both twins. Then realized they both want to go at the same time and I don't have two toilets close enough together in my house for that. I think potty seats are icky, so I don't use them.

Emmitt shows much more interest in the toilet. He is starting to tell me that he wants to go.

I have a jar of jelly beans on top of the refrigerator. I call them pee-pee candy.

I know gross right? but I've done this three times before and candy works the best. Especially to a 2 year-old that doesn't get candy very often.

We had three successful trips to the potty today. One of the times I wasn't paying attention fully, and he made a "pissss, pissss" noise that I quickly understood what he needed to do.

My favorite part is when he's sitting on the toilet and he yells "I peeped, I peeped!"

My goal is to have the house diaper free by the end of April.

A Little Bit of Grandma Audrey in My Audrey :)

A new house for me means a lot of painting and shopping for new decor.

This time it's different for me. Since we are renting, I'm living with the sponge-painted walls, the flower tiles, the green counter tops, the vinyl flooring and (worst of all) the shiny gold light fixtures.

The last time we bought a house, I painted nearly every wall and ceiling in the house before we started moving our things in. (with LOTS of family help)

I'm feeling bad for my girls. They had their hearts set on neon walls.

In no way was I going to let them paint the entire room neon, but I thought that an accent wall could be fun.

Since painting isn't happening this time around, a project was in order to put some fun on their walls.

Today during the boys nap time, I started a Pinterest project with the girls :)

PINTEREST #2. Paint swatch hearts strung on their wall.

I'm most proud of the fact that they stuck with it and finished the entire project this afternoon. Even though by the end of the project, they had both poked their fingers with needles and band aids were needed.

They both made 3 strands. All on their own. All I had to do was teach and hang.

When we were hanging Audrey's side of the room, I noticed that she had only one heart hung upside-down. It was already on the wall and she looked disappointed.

I remembered something that I believe I heard from Aunt Bobbie, "Only God creates perfection." (It may have not been exactly that, but something close.) It was something that Great-Grandma Audrey used to say. She was an artist and crafter that always created with at least one imperfection.

I told Audrey that story and she smiled and looked at her upside down heart in a whole new way.

•     •     •     •     •     •     •     •     •     •     •     •     •     •     •     •

PINTEREST #3. I also made a meal from Pinterest. I made a Cheesy Chicken and Rice Bake. I didn't have a plan, so I typed "chicken" into Pinterest, and this recipe popped up on my screen that I knew my family would like and I had the ingredients in my kitchen.

Note to self: Pre-cook the chicken in taco seasoning next time.

And best of all, the leftovers can be used for breakfast burritos  :)

My Pinterest Love Affair

I have a completely addictive personality.

So when I was told about Pinterest, I logged in and within two weeks I repinned over 700 things. I have a few original pins of my own.

I know, I'm sick.

So if you are unfamiliar with Pinterest, it's a site that is full of crafts, food, desserts, home decor, organizing ideas, hairstyles, and all things good.

It's the perfect website for mothers like me who love doing crafty projects and serving fun meals to their family and creating beautiful desserts to show off at parties ... but we just don't have the time to come up with the ideas.

So this year I am going to be using the website to try and have more fun with my year. While also getting organized and becoming a better cook.

Tonight was our first attempt. We made a homemade calzone. We made our's slightly different, because we had pizza last night.

So we made a calzone with barbecue turkey and mozzarella, with the dough made from scratch.

My helpful assistant for the night was so excited about how dinner would turn out.

I've heard from a couple people that there are Pinterest groups being set up and challenges out there on the Internet.

I will be posting my Pinterest accomplishments throughout the year. Don't know how many I'll end up actually doing but I'll number them as I go along, I plan on doing lots and lots!

PINTEREST #1. Calzone - - - here's a link to the pin.

Two weeks ago, the thought of making a calzone had never crossed my mind. Since seeing it on Pinterest, I've thought of nothing else :)

I need to practice making pizza dough. It didn't rise like I thought it should. We also cooked it on the wax paper, which we ended up having to peel of the bottom of our meal.

So, it wasn't perfect, but it was delicious. It's definitely something I'll make again . . . I've just learned a few things this time around.

So if you're not a member of Pinterest, check it out you might find something that you find of interest.