Kitchen Vision

We are so close to starting a kitchen remodel and I am beyond excited!! We are also getting new floors on our main level which I think I may be even more excited for.

We knew when we moved we would have to live in our homes current state until we could save enough money to do updates.  Over the past year we have done many updates however, painting our house, our fireplace makeover, replacing some old pipes, put central air in, and a few other small things.  So to say we haven't done anything to our house would be an understatement.  

These are the floors we have been living with for over a year... Lord only knows how old linoleum and green carpet, YUCK.

It's amazing how many times I have scrubbed the shit out of those linoleum floors and yet they never seem to be clean.  So. Gross.

At least my cute kids can distract me from the nastiness going on in these rooms.

Our vision is to put in dark hardwood floors throughout the entry, kitchen, dining, and playroom areas.  For our kitchen, we want white cabinets, an oatmeal-ish color in granite and stainless steel appliances.  I am going for more of a country-chic look rather than too modern.  I want our home to feel homey and still have some nice finishes.  

Here are some kitchens that have inspired us

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We are just starting now to obtain quotes for cabinets and floors so I'm hoping this overhaul will take place within the next couple of months.  I would like to get as many quotes as possible before deciding. 

I can't wait to be able to show our end results!!

Disney on Ice!!!

This weekend we took our little guy to Disney on Ice.  I bought the tickets months in advance and we have been counting down the days to go.  Brayden was so excited since all of his faves would be there, and the hubs and I were just as excited since we had never been before.

We got there a tad too early since I assumed the start time was 11am, just like the circus.  I kept telling the hubs I was 100 % sure it was 11 and they were just starting late, he pulled out the tickets and just shook his head... now we have an agreement that he checks the times before we go anywhere. 

I just LOVE this little boy!!

We indulged in some serious snacks while there, that's always my favorite part :) Popcorn, ice cream, pizza, soft pretzels, skittles and milk duds, it was like going to the movies, but better.

I so enjoyed this, but what was even better was seeing the smile on my little guys face, it never came off! I can't wait to go back and bring Little Miss next time!

Ella Grace - 16 Months

My baby girl, you are now 16 months old! I catch myself looking you at thinking how in a blink of an eye you as big as you are. I make sure to be in the moment with you and savor every minute, but yet, it still feels like time is speeding by and I have no idea where the time went.

The biggest milestone you have reached lately is walking!! Yes, you are walking everywhere now and I just love it! You look like a little drunk person when you walk, with both hands up in the air to help you balance and your little feet stomping all around.  It is the cutest thing ever. You started walking right after Christmas, 12/26 and haven’t stopped yet.  You love to just stand up and do laps around the kitchen and playroom.

You are still a Daddy’s girl and I love seeing you two engage with eachother.  He loves you so much and I see it in his eyes everytime he looks at you. 

You are still a happy little girl, but you are teething so there are lots of days where nothing really makes you happy, I hate those days and feel your pain! You are a late teether so you seem to get lots of teeth at one time, ouch!

Along with teething, you have been sick quite a bit over the past few months, we had your ER scare with croup and since then you have had croup a couple more times.  It is so scary every time you get that but in a weird way, Daddy and I are kind of getting use to it. We just spent the last week trading off turns taking you outside in the bitter cold (bundled up of course!) in the middle of the night - this helps the croup.  You are definitely teaching us how to live on little sleep :)

You are very into playing with toys now.  You and Brayden received a play kitchen for Christmas and your little cute butt is always over there whipping stuff up J I love seeing you stand at the kitchen on your tippy toes trying to get something.

You adore your brother and want to play with him so badly! Too bad most of the time he is too cool for you L  I know one day that will change, but it makes me a little sad to see him not play with you.  But then there are times when he will go up to you, give you a big hug and say “I love you sissy” and then my heart melts

You are very good in the eating dept, you eat pretty much everything and most times we have to stop you from overeating! I’m cherishing these moments because your brother was also a great eater at this age and now that is not the case at all.  You do make us nervous though because sometimes you’ll put food in your mouth and then lean your head all the way back and gag, I really wish you could tell me what the heck this is and why you do it!??! I am very much looking forward to that phase ending.

You don’t talk much at all, still babble, or Mama or Dada but not much more than that.  You have started to scream very loud and I wonder what exactly you’re trying to say?? I can’t imagine how cute your little voice is going to be when you do start talking!

Baby girl, Ella Bella, Peewee, you are such a blessing in our lives and I am so happy I get to be your Mama and watch you learn and grow.  I look forward to our mother/daughter relationship we will continue to make and hope you stay my little girl forever.

DIY Heart Garland

So now that we have an awesome fireplace, I am so excited to be able to decorate it, mainly with each holiday.  Since Valentine's Day is coming up, I wanted to do a heart garland to go across.  My awesome silhouette portrait came in handy to make this super easy, quick garland.

What you need:

• Cardstock - I chose 2 shades of pink and 1 shade of red, I only used 1pc of cardstock of each
• Silhouette - or a heart punch, or you can print hearts on the paper and cut them out
• Twine - bought mine at Michaels (using a coupon of course!) 
• Tiny hole puncher (or anything that can make a small hole)

I went to the online silhouette store and bought a heart shape and put 6 on a page and then printed.  Once all my heart shapes were cut out, I punched a hole in each side of the heart, then threaded them through the twine.  That's it! So so easy and it looks so cute! I am still finishing the top of my mantel and I'll share then when it's complete :)

Fireplace Makeover

This is a project that has been done for a few months now but I'm just getting around to document it :)

Here is what our fireplace use to look like - you can say it, GROSS!  At least to us it was, just so old and not our taste, plus it took up the entire wall!!

Before we moved in, the only picture we have

We knew we wanted to do a fireplace remodel before putting in new carpet, and we are so glad we were smart enough to do that because knocking down that old fireplace sure did make a MESS of our old carpet.  

We hired a guy to do the demo part of removing the old fireplace.  Part of me (the cheap part) was not happy to pay someone to do something that we could have easily done (of course I say this after I saw it get done) but I knew with 2 little kids, both the hubs and I working full time, and weekends jam packed there was just not time for us to do it. 

We searched the internet for different stone options, I knew right away I liked the thin stacked stone look. We ended up using Eldorado Stone in Dry Creek.  

Initially we only went half way up the wall.  As soon as it was done, the hubby was not happy.  He wanted the stone to the ceiling.  Again, the cheap part of me was perfectly happy with the stone only going halfway, see, not so bad right??

But then the idea to go to the ceiling grew on me more and we ordered another box, paid more money to have it installed, and viola! Here is the end result! Just gorgeous if I do say so myself!!!!

The hubby put in new woodwork around the windows, ripped off the wood paneling on the walls, painted the walls and ceilings and bought new window treatments. Of course the carpet is new too and is sooo nice and soft. This room has totally transformed and is now our favorite room.

Now just for fun, a before and after:

Freezer Meals!

Woohoo I finally took the time to prepare tons of freezer meals! I have done this once before, but it’s been months, and when I saw Emily post about it, she gave me the motivation I needed to do it again.

With it being winter, this is the perfect time to have made ahead meals to just pop in the croc pot and dinner is ready when I get home from work.  I love this because clean up is so easy and best of all, it leaves me with a ton of extra play time with my little cuties.

I first chose the recipes I wanted to prepare, then started my shopping list.  I’ll list out each recipe I made, and the items needed underneath. 

All original sources are cited, but I did change things up a bit on most of them.  I also split each meal into 2 freezer bags.

To start, I first wrote the directions for each meal on the gallon zip lock bags

Then, I chopped up the onions and peppers I needed

I then cooked the meat that needed to be cooked and left it aside until I was ready for it.  Then it was time to start adding everything to the bags

Slow Cooker Black Bean & Corn Salsa Chicken

• 4  pieces of boneless chicken breasts
• 2 (14 oz) cans black beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 (14 oz) cans corn, drained
• 1 (1 oz) package taco seasoning
• 1 cup salsa
• 3/4 cup water

Toss all ingredients into gallon size ziplock bag and freeze.  When ready to make, cook on high 3-4 hours or low 7-8 hours.  Serve with tortillas and any toppings of your choice.

Original Recipe Found here

Croc Pot Chicken Fajitas

• 3 Chicken Breasts
• 1-2 Tbsp Fajita seasoning from packet
• 1 medium onion sliced
• 2 peppers sliced (I used orange and yellow)
• 1 can Rotel tomatoes and green chiles

Toss all ingredients into gallon size ziplock bag and freeze.  When ready to make, cook on low 4-5 hours.  Serve with tortillas and any toppings of your choice.

Original recipe found here

Pot Roast

• 2 1/2lb of chuck roast (uncooked)
• 1 packet of dry ranch dressing mix
• 2 packets of brown gravy mix
• 4 tsp of dry onion flakes
• 2 C of water
• 1 bag of baby carrots (do not add in freezer bag)

Add all ingredients to bag (except carrots) and freeze. Add baby carrots. (you can also cut up potatoes and add at this time as well if you’d like)
Cook on high 6-7 hours or low 8-9 hours.

*Cannot find original recipe source

Meatball Stroganoff

• 1 bag of frozen meatballs
• 1 C chopped onions
• 2 cans of cream of mushroom soup
• 1 C sliced mushrooms
• 1 package of cream cheese (do not add to bag)
• 8 oz sour cream (do not add to bag)

Add meatballs, onions, soup and mushrooms in bag and freeze.  Cook on low for 6-8 hours. During last hour, stir in 1 package of cream cheese and 8 oz of sour cream. Serve over hot pasta or rice.

Original recipe here

Taco Roast

• 2 1/2 lb of chuck roast (uncooked)
• 1 14oz can beef broth
• 1 ½ tbsp of chili powder
• ½ tbsp cumin
• ½ tbsp onion powders
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp salt
• Dash of pepper
• Juice of 1 lime

Put all ingredients in bag and freeze. Cook on low 6-8 hours. Serve with tortillas

Original recipe here

Chicken Broccoli Alfredo

• 4 chicken breasts
• 1 16oz bag of frozen broccoli florets
• 2 16oz jars of alfredo sauce
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• 1 4oz can sliced mushrooms, drained

 Place all ingredients in gallon zip lock bag, freeze.  Cook low 4-6 hours. Serve with fettuccini.

Original recipe found here

Croc Pot Chili

• 2 lb ground beef (you could also use ground turkey)
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 (14 oz) cans diced tomatoes
• 1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
• 1/4 cup ketchup or chili sauce
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 (15 oz) can dark red kidney beans
• 1 packet chili seasoning mix
• 3 stalks celery, chopped
• 2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 Tablespoon sugar

 Cook the ground beef or turkey with onions, let cool.  Place all other ingredients into your gallon zip lock bag, add the meat once cooled.  Freeze.  When ready to eat, cook on low 7-8 hours or high 3-4 hours.

 Original recipe found here

Beef Enchiladas – Non Croc Pot

• 2 pounds of ground beef, cooked and drained
• 1 onion, chopped
• 4 cups of shredded cheese (I used cheddar & mozzerella)
• 10 large tortillas
• 2 14oz red enchilada sauce

Cook the ground beef and onions together, drain.  Pour a little enchilada sauce on the bottom of foil pan.  Add the meat, most of the cheese, and 1 can of enchilada sauce together. Spoon the mixture into the tortillas and place the seam down in the pan.  I put 5 tortillas in each pan.  Once done pour the rest of the enchilada sauce over the tortillas then the rest of your cheese.  Cover with foil and freeze.  When ready to cook, place in over for 45-55 min at 350 degrees.  

I think this took me a total of 3 hours but I also did it while I was home with the kids and the hubs was out bowling, so there were plenty of distractions.  I made a total of 16 freezer meals and I spent about $75 on all of the ingredients.  I don't think that's too bad?!

Golden Globes Recap

So I love me award season, it all stems from my Mom, who is literally obsessed with Hollywood.  She started me at a very young age watching these award shows and I grew up the same, obsessed with Hollywood.  I would much rather watch E! news than the regular news and I know way too much about celebrities that it's almost embarrassing. 

I really only like to watch the red carpet and some of the show, rarely do I ever watch an entire award show, except maybe the Oscars.  I also only like award shows with actors, so I could care less about the Grammy's.

I thought it would be fun to do a little recap on my thoughts of best and worst dress and some of the winners

BEST DRESSED - FEMALES

• Margot Robbie - The Wolf of Wall Street (go see now if you have not!)- This woman is so gorgeous and I loved her dress, simple yet beautiful

• Olivia Wilde - OK, I wish I could look half this good when pregnant! She is absolutely stunning!

• Amy Adams - I just love her so that's probably most of the reason I picked her, but I really like her dress and the neckline!

• Reese Witherspoon - Again, very simple but she looked gorgeous! I'm loving her hair too

WORST DRESSED - FEMALES

• Drew Barrymore - I know she is preggers with her 2nd, but that doesn't mean she should put on a moo moo. I think she should have accented her bump like Olivia Wilde and it would have looked 100 x's better on her. This is just too busy

• Paula Patton - Why in the world would she think this looked good? This woman is GORGEOUS and she distracted that by having a bunch of material growing off her shoulder, bad move Paula.

• Caitlin Fitzgerald - I don't even know who this woman is, but this look is horrendous

• Lena Dunham - Again, don't know who she is, but that dress is awful.  She is busting out of the top and there is alot of dress - this does not flatter her body at all

I'm not even going to do best/worst dressed for men because honestly they all mostly look the same, but I will highlight some of the hotties

WINNERS 

(I can't really comment on too many because well, I rarely get out to the movies, and if we watch them at home, I'm sleeping before the opening scene)

Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical: Leonardo DiCaprio, The Wolf of Wall Street

--- I was very happy Leo won, but really, they put this movie in a caterogory of comedy or musical? Anyone who has seen it, I think would agree with me, that this is neither comedy nor a musical.  Very weird.  None the less, Leo did amazing in his role and he deserved the win.

Best Supporting Actor, Motion Picture: Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club

--- I haven't seen this movie but I just want to comment that Jared Leto is still so hot and I was happy he won after being away from acting for 6 years.

Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy: American Hustle

---American Hustle won alot, and I think I need to see this movie ASAP.  I love all of the actors in it so I'm sure it would be good - has anyone see this yet??