a recipe I wanted to remember

Have you seen this cook book?  

It came out in 2012 and I am still having such fun finding new recipes.

Like this one:

I love my Dutch oven!

I made it part of our weekly meal plan:

The first night we had it on pasta.  The second night we used it for tacos. The third night we made sandwiches with it.  For $18 dollars of pork, I was thrilled how far it went and more importantly,  how TASTY it was.  I want to remember to do this again VERY SOON!

a long awaited purchase...

After living in our house for almost a year and half, and scouring garage sales, thrift stores, curbside finds, and Craiglist for furniture, we have finally started to put our fire place room together.  Meet the newest addition to our house:

After living here for awhile and realizing that having a sitting area here would be the most beneficial, we finally found this leather couch on Craigslist for about a 1/4 of the cost of retail.  (It was only two months old!)

Ryder helped to make sure that it would fit...

Ryder measured it perfectly...

 We got her all styled up, keeping things as neutral as possible, mostly with things we already had!

And here is my view when I am in our kitchen...

We have already logged so many hours of sitting together and reading and talking here and I have loved to sit here and watch the kiddos play in the playroom...

We also added this chalk board from Hobby Lobby and put our favorite lyrics from one of our favorite hymns:

It feels like this part of the house is really coming together!

It's crazy to think that it looked like this when we bought it:

Hooray for progress!

the most incredible dress up date EVER!

My Aunt Laurel owns the most bridal salon in Costa Mesa called Mon Amie and invited Eden to come and play dress up in her shop.  How could one possible say no to that once in a life time experience!  So we made a girl date of it!

My aunt filled a room with flower girl dresses and tiaras and jewelry and veils and flowers...

Eden's mind practically exploded!

You guys, I can't even tell you how sweet this time was... I wanted to cry watching her strut around the shop with her veil and her flowers and looking at her self in the mirror... I just can't believe how special the whole experience was!  I will be a mess when we go to buy her wedding dress.  She is only three but when I saw these other brides and watched THEIR mothers well up at their daughters in their wedding dresses, I had this flash of realizing how fast it all goes!  I am going to do my best to savor every single moment... 

Aunt Laurel, we can not thank you enough for all that you did to make this little girl feel like such a princess.❤️

part of our new routine...

This week we started homework packets.  All of the sudden my son looks so old.  I love watching him learn and put things together and have fun while he does it.  

After school our counter looks like this:

He gets so excited to show me everything that he has learned and projects that he has been working on.

We have set up a homework station in the office.  I think that works the best because I can keep Eden out of what he is working on.  Bless.

 He works with such determination and is SO excited when he gets answers right.  I can tell that he is so proud of himself. We are pretty proud of this big kindergartener...❤️

$13 dollars and a little bit of elbow grease

A few days ago, I tackled a little project that I have been wanting to do since we moved in.  There is nothing like checking something off of our house project list!  So using a $13 can of paint and some elbow grease...

I sanded and painted all of our stair railings.

Here is what they looked like when we moved in:

And then after the stairs were refinished:

Just little chips here and there...

We had our steps done while Kit was in India last February and these railings have been needing some love for awhile now.   

It feels so good to have this project finished.  I know that eventually we might want to replace the railings but at this time, getting a fresh coat of paint on them has made it feel so much better.

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When I think about this staircase,  I can't help but think about my kiddos.  I think about Eden and Ryder waking up and coming down with their blankets, Eden sucking her thumb and Ryder talking about how he wants waffles and bacon for breakfast.  I think of when Eden goes on a "daddy date" with Kit and how she waits at the top of the stairs in her outfit with her special jewelry, spinning with excitement of her time alone with her dad.  I think of Ryder coming down in his Angels baseball hat with his glove and ball in hand, ready to play catch with anyone that is ready to play... There are so many little memories that we are making and my heart wants to burst and break thinking about how my babies are going to grow up around these steps...❤️

snuggles...

With Ryder being in school five days a week, Eden and I have really gotten so much quality one on one time together. 

Some of our favorite things are: snuggling up on our couch or on our bed and reading or watching Sofia the First episodes, eating tasty food, and pretty much turning very unexciting errands into little adventures...

Time with this girl is so special and I am loving every second of it...❤️

soccer

This kid is LOVING soccer!  

 

 You will either find Eden cheering for her brother, coloring her book, or running around with the other siblings...

I am so excited that he is learning what it is to be a good team mate, that he is having fun, and that he is making new friends along the way.  He is also scoring goals at each game which is also adding to the fun for him...❤️

Italian Family Fun Day

On Saturday, we all got together with my extended family for a family day, filled with lots of laughter, talking, and lots of amazing homemade pizzas fresh out of my Uncle's homemade, outdoor pizza oven!

I didn't get many photos since I was too busy holding luscious babies and eating...

 

 Blue cheese, onion, and pear...

After everyone left, Kit, the kiddos and I just sat and watched the USC/Stanford game, made pizzas, and told family stories with my Uncle Bobby and Aunt Laurel.  It was "after-glowing" at it's finest!

I love when we are able to be together! Family time is the best and when you add phenomenal food to it... It just doesn't get better than that.❤️