...around the house

I look forward to summer vacation every year. I always have several projects I've promised myself I will complete during my time off from school. A few weeks ago I decided it was time to update the curtains in my scrap room since I was planning on spending a lot of time in there over the next few months. The pic above shows the old curtains-along with my inherited chair from Jamie. She decided it didn't fit in with her new décor. I have since moved the chair to the living room because I really enjoy the light coming in through the window, and I thought it looked a little crowded with the chair in front of it.

And, here are the new curtains...and new curtain rod...

...a different view, I love all the natural light.

Another project I started a couple of weeks ago, in anticipation of being home for the summer, was repainting one of my brown tables. I forgot to take a picture before I painted, but trust me-it looks a lot better now. 

It looked too bare without something on the top so I put together a quick quilted runner to add more color. I'm really happy how it turned out. 

I also enjoyed putting it together just to be able to quilt again. I don't have time during the busy school year, and quilting is one of my favorite hobbies.

I think I have enough fabric to quilt non-stop for about 10 summers in a row! Now, off to start a new project...

Spring Break=New Recipes

This recipe was a hit! I love having time off from school to enjoy some of my other passions. I love to be in the kitchen when I am not rushed to get dinner on the table during the work week. I had some egg roll wrappers left over from another recipe I made recently, and I needed to use them up quickly! I found the recipe for Bacon Cheeseburger Egg Rolls, on Pinterest of course!

They were very quick and simple to make, and they were a hit with the hubs and youngest daughter. I didn't add bacon to mine, simply because I didn't have any on hand-this recipe would be so easy to customize to your family's taste.

I even have a couple left over from dinner last night, I think they'll become my "do they pass the warm-up-for-leftovers challenge?" today...

Another new recipe I tried a couple of days ago was this Buttery Pound Cake. Anyone that knows me, knows that I have a sweet tooth---oh my! this was sweet, buttery, and perfect!

It is disappearing way too fast! It's a good thing I have several more recipes I want to try this week, cupcakes included-because just looking at these photos makes me want to go slice up another piece of that cake right now. Happy Spring Break!

I promise...it's worth it!

I tried a new Sweet and Sour Chicken recipe from Pinterest...

It was easy...

...and, it was yummy!

...and then he was FOUR!

I'm still behind on posting pictures, but these were so cute I couldn't resist. M turned 4 in December-my, oh, my....where has the time gone? I think they enjoyed playing with the balloons as much as anything. Having the large open space in the new house gave them a lot of room to toss and chase...

...they stayed busy corralling the balloons while mommy and daddy set up for the cookie decorating party...

I think my fave pics from the party were of G waiting for M to blow out his candles. You can see the excitement and anticipation on his face, watching his little brother...

G gets beyond excited and can hardly wait for surprises & celebrations. While M is all about having fun, he is a lot more relaxed-just chillin' and taking it all in... 

I think M is concentrating on making his wish here, he looks so serious as we sing "Happy Birthday" to him...                     

 ...and he blows out the candles!

Not too sure why such a serious face here, but fun was had by all! Happy Birthday to sweet M!

Marley...

Marley was right in the middle of our Christmas morning celebration. She loves to be in the center of whatever is going on in the house. And, of course she had to see what Santa left in her stocking.

Here she's playing with her pink pig from G & M, they like to get her surprises.

I think M is waiting to see if Marley is going to let him play, too.

She's spoiled and well loved.... 

And, she knows it!

Everyone needs an Uncle KK...

The boys are always so busy and "on the go" that most of my pics the last couple of years are very candid...that being said I still wanted to try to capture one last photo of them before they began their trip back to Texas... they were all dressed up (meaning not in their pj's), hair combed, no toys out to distract them, etc.  I asked them to sit on the couch so I could snap a couple of quick poses...G is getting where he will indulge me and the camera, for a few seconds at least, not so much with M. I still got a few adorable shots, but soon they were distracted by something more fun...Uncle KK was standing in the same room, so they were quick to jump up and start playing around with him.

Maybe I shouldn't stress over not having more traditional, posed shots...because, how cute is this? What a cool uncle he is, and they love to wrestle around with him...I think the feeling is mutual. These are the pics I treasure the most... 

Continuing to "ham it up" for the camera...

These are priceless... 

...and they are priceless!

Christmas at Nienie's...fun times!

We had so much fun over the holidays...no one was sick...no drives to Urgent Care this year because of sore throats or strep...we all relaxed, ate, played, took naps, read, watched movies, and simply enjoyed being together as a family. It just can't get any better than that. Fun was had by all!
The table game was meant to be one of daddy's gifts...

...and if you hold your mouth just right, and concentrate
it makes it a lot more fun!

Sorry daddy, maybe you can play next time...

The boys got some wooden toys to put together, packaged with screws and a kid-friendly screwdriver, G got a tow truck and M got a train
...after assembly they needed a colorful paint job

I love that they are so creative and enjoy building things and putting things together-they are perfect crafting buddies for Nienie!

...and G is a natural at reading directions and following them step by step, it's fun to see him so confident and self assured, the printed pages are not intimidating to him at all... 

...I'm sure M will soon be reading his own directions because he loves to follow along and do anything his big brother does!

I hope everyone had a blessed holiday!