procrastination thwarted again

I make a lot of lists.  I love to cross things off my lists.  It's the best part of making lists!  I have a list up in my office and things are getting crossed off!  It's like a miracle in my world.  I am the queen of procrastination.  But you know, New Years resolutions and all that.  So I've crossed off quite a few projects, and I'm really happy to say I've finally made something for my own daughter.  I've made a ton of onesies and shirts for other people's children, but I rarely get anything made for my own.  So I've moved my own littles up to the top of the list, and I've finally gotten around to making her a shirt.  Her first one.  Yes, I never made her a onesie.  The guilt.  THE GUILT.

So here it is!  If you know me, you know I am currently OBSESSED with birds, and it has spilled over onto Rowan.  Her bedroom is all birdy themed.  And I love it.

The shirt is from Target, and I used a pretty turquoise felt for the birdy. 

And here is Rowan wearing her shirt.  She's super excited about it!

Well, maybe not SUPER excited.  Actually, she was not in the mood to model.  She was in the mood for breakfast.

See?  Much happier once she got to eat.  And now I don't feel mama-guilt over not making her a shirt.  No, now I feel it for not making Fletcher a shirt!  It's next on my list, Fletcher, so don't worry.

oh so silly

Here is Brian and Rowan being oh so silly.  Don't worry, she's not really smoking a pipe.  She's more of a Marlboro girl. 

For more silliness, head over to i heart faces!

fake-out omelet

I make eggs for the littles a couple days a week for breakfast.  They call them cheesy eggs, and they eat them up!  This is a little trick I learned from my own mom.  The eggs look and taste like an omelet, but without all the work of beating the eggs and adding milk or water.  They are fast, easy, and never fail to impress my husband, who is famous for his own "real" omelets. 

So I will share my secret family recipe here!  Just kidding.  I would never share a secret family recipe.  If we had one, I would never share it.  Well, maybe.  Everyone has a price, right?  Anyway...

I crack a coupla eggs directly into a pan (coated in cooking spray).  You could do the same thing with one or even 3 or 4. 

Break the yolks and stir the eggs around, putting the heat on medium.

When you can see that the edges are setting, loosen the edges from around the pan, slip your spatula underneath, and flip her over.

At this point I add a generous amount of cheese (because cheese is good), and sometimes onions, peppers, broccoli, etc. depending upon what we have on hand.  For the littles, I keep it at just cheese.

Fold it over (like an omelet) and cook to your desired firmness, flipping it over to cook both sides. 

Brian likes his on the softer side, but the littles and I like a very well done omelet.  Any kind of runny eggs makes me want to hurl.  I want to hurl just thinking about it.  So I cook mine nice and browned and non-runny.

I split this one for the littles.

And they ate up!

Rowan likes.  She likes a lot.

Yum!  Enjoy your fake-out omelets!  Easy, AND impressive.  What a winning combination.

colors

the colorful glow of the ipad always gets them running

looking through the garage to find each other's colorful smiles

and colorful garland and tulips remind us that Valentine's Day is coming!

Linking up to:

what i'm loving lately: measuring matryoshkas

I have a small collection of matryoshka stacking dolls that I have been given by my parents.  I love their charm and the surprise they hold inside.  Brian gave me these matryoshka stacking dolls for Christmas.  But they aren't what they appear to be at first!

They are actually measuring cups.  Such a cute packaging for something so useful!  The top halves are one size, and the bottom another, to make a total of 6 measuring cups, 1/8 cup to 1 cup!

And here is where she lives in my kitchen.  She makes me smile while I'm cooking.

If you'd like your own, you can find them here.  I'm a big fan of mine, and you can't beat the price at less than 10 bucks! 

winter birdie painting

Well, it's been a long time coming.  I think I was hoping to actually get to my winter birdie painting well before Christmas, but I, uh, did not.  Obviously. 

Remember my fall birdie painting?

Well, here is the winter birdie.  Finally.

Like that green grass in the background?  Yep, that's January in South Carolina.  But I do miss snow.  I don't want a blizzard or anything, but just a dusting would be nice.  Ok, enough complaining.  I guess we'll go out and play now!

by the book

Sometimes this boy lives his life by this book, but mostly he's sweet as pie.  Mostly.

For more by the book pictures, head over to i heart faces!

reuben soup

It seems like people either love or hate sauerkraut.  If you hate it, feel free to stop right here, cause this is pretty sauerkrauty- if you didn't already guess by the title "Reuben soup."  But if you love it, then this will be a delicious winter soup for you!  Gather up these ingredients:

1/2 T olive oil

1 celery stalk, chopped

1/2 onion, chopped

1 can beef broth

1 T baking soda

1 T corn starch

1 T water

1 c sauerkraut

2 c milk

1/4 lb corned beef

salt and pepper to taste

shredded swiss cheese

for garnish:

2 slices rye or rye pumpernickel bread

2 t oregano

salt and pepper

First you want to saute your celery and onion in olive oil until browned.

While you have those browning, you'll want to cut your bread into crouton-size pieces.  Because we're making croutons here, people.  If you don't like croutons, then you can skip this step.  But really?  You don't like croutons?  I don't believe you.

Spray a pan with cooking spray, throw your bread cubes in, and lightly spray the cubes.  Sprinkle your salt, pepper, and oregano over the bread cubes, and toast them in your pan, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes. 

After your celery and onion is browned, add your can of broth over them. 

Also add in your baking soda.  This helps to keep the milk from curdling when you add that in.

Now mix together your cornstarch and water in a separate bowl until smooth.  Pour that into the pot, too!  This is for thickening.

Bring this to a boil, stirring occasionally.  Turn your heat down to low and add in the milk.

And now add in your delicious sauerkraut. 

Chop up your corned beef, and add that too.

I personally add this in just Brian's bowl, instead of the whole pot.  Stir your soup on low for about 10 minutes.  Don't bring to a boil again.  Serve it up, sprinkling with shredded swiss and your toasted croutons.  If you are me, you add a LOT of the cheese.  Cause cheese is good.  I've also used chopped up swiss if I can't find it shredded, by the way.

It's like a Reuben sandwich in a bowl!  But even better, because it's so creamy and savory.  Enjoy!

diy valentine garland

I have a confession.  I love burlap.  It is rustic and versatile, and smells so earthy and organic.  Yes, I am a burlap sniffer. 

I'm glad I got that off my chest.  Now onto what I did with my burlap recently!  I made a Valentine's garland!  And it was super easy and you can make one, too.  Now, I am not traditionally a Valentine's Day decorator.  I've never felt the urge to festoon the house with red heart and doilies, but this darn mantle on our fireplace really kind of demands to be decorated.  It has been looking REALLY naked after I decorated it for fall and then Christmas.  So I came up with a pretty simple solution.

If you'd like to make your own, you'll need:

about 1/4- 1/2 yard of burlap
red yarn
red marker
embroidery needle
thick paper
sharp scissors
scotch tape

First I drew a large and small heart on thick paper to use as a template. 

I cut them out, and started tracing around them on my burlap.

Yep, I'm pretend tracing with my left hand there. 

I traced a few rows, and then cut them out.

I made 12 big hearts, and then 18 small ones.  I taped up the end of my yarn so that I could easily thread it through an embroidery needle. 

Now I started threading the yarn through my big hearts.

I didn't concern myself with spacing the yarn through the heart, I just did a couple different entry points, and just kept pushing the hearts down the line of yarn.

I put the big hearts aside and decorated the little hearts with my red marker.

I strung these in the same way as the big ones, but on a new length of yarn.

And then I decorated with my newly made garland!

I like.  I will call it Rustic Romance.  Just kidding.  I think I'll call it Valentine garland, ok?