Pictures: Part One {Befores}

Master Suite

 

 Dining Room

  Kitchen

CJ's Room

 Kids' Bath

 Downstairs Bath and Laundry

 Girls' Room

 Living Room

Downstairs Play Area

Downstairs Sewing/School Room

Downstairs Guest Room

Storage

I've missed you!

Its September 17, 2011 at 11:16 pm. I’m laying in bed for the first time in our new house.

This whole thing is so surreal.

Without a doubt, this house is a blessing but it’s not our home. Yet.

I had to make a last minute run back to our old house tonight (just 5 minutes away) and the emptiness of our “old home” made me so sad.

It hit me, as I packed up a few more miscellaneous items that this is the home I brought my babies to, the place I made meals for my family to gather, the rooms which we tucked ourselves in to at night, and the places our past five years worth of memories were made. CJ and Mak took their first steps in that living room. Bean smiled for the first time on the couch in there. I nursed my little ones to sleep in those rooms and CJ had his first day of school picture taken outside that front door. Hubs and I created a home for our family in that house and now it looks lost, forgotten.

I know new memories will come but until they do, I’m appreciative of the space we’ve been given and still so sad for what we’ve left behind.

Here’s to you, first home.

I’ll miss you dearly and thank God for the beauty and comfort He afforded us through our “old home”.

Pictures are coming soon! I've packed my camera cord somewhere and as soon as I find it, I'll share.

Here's the Score...

1 mom, down for 8 days with the flu. {Back up today... thank you for the prayers!}
1 son with mysterious dots on neck, head, and face. {Apparently an allergic reaction.}
1 munchkin with a cough. 
1 four month old with a fever of 101.

Hopefully this means we've paid out sick dues for a while.

sigh

ONE MORE DAY!!!!

{Coconut Chicken with Apricot Sauce}

Today is day 5 of the flu that has had me off my feet, back on them, and off again. <sigh>.

I wasn't a fan of the idea of not wishing you a happy weekend and thought I'd share a yummy new recipe from Pennies on a Platter that I tried this week in case you're running low on ideas for the weekend.

What You'll Need:
1 egg
1 c sweetened coconut flakes
1/2 c flour
1/2 t garlic powder
1/2 t salt
1/4 t black pepper
4 boneless chicken breasts
1/2 c unsalted butter, melted
1/4 c apricot preserves
2 T dijon mustard

What To Do:
Preheat the oven to 400˚F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

 

Lightly beat the egg in a medium bowl; set aside.  Mix the coconut, flour, garlic powder, salt and pepper in a shallow bowl.  Working with one chicken breast at a time, dip the chicken in the bowl with the beaten egg and then coat with the coconut mixture.  Place on the baking sheet. 

Once all chicken breasts are coated and on the baking sheet, evenly drizzle with the melted butter.  Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, flipping once halfway.
To prepare the apricot sauce, mix the apricot preserves and the Dijon mustard in a small bowl.  Chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

 Have a Blessed {and healthy} Weekend!

ch ch ch ch changes...

well, round 2 of the "moving revolution" is won. well, lost, really. and yet won. okay, i guess it depends on who you ask.
confused yet?

our dear Chesser has found a new home.
he has been a part of our family for 5 years now and has slowly taken a back seat to the three munkins.
it's an answer to prayer just 8 days from our closing date. {hence the win}
we lost one of our furbabies. {hence the loss}
he's in a fantastic foster home with two other labs, a large yard and pool, and he's now an indoor dog in a 5,000 sq ft house which is something we couldn't offer him.{hence, another win}

we're keeping his sweet sister, Mia, who is, as of today, an indoor dog and she fits right in amongst the chaos of boxes and misplaced furniture.
meanwhile, i'm fighting off a cold/flu that has had me in its grip for two days now.
aches, pains, chills, sweats, the whole ordeal.
the rumor is that i'm not the only sick one around these parts.
friends close by and hundreds of miles away are dealing with it too.
CJ had a fever a few nights ago and Miss Mak seems to be running one tonight.
thus far their ailments have been minor.
we're praying they stay that way and that Bean dodges all of it.
here's to a healthier tomorrow!

WAIT!

i feel lame leaving you with nothing but my sob stories so here's a little peak of some ideas i have stewing for our very first, ours all ours, home (did i mention that we close in 8 days?!)...

i plan to address the boring, white front door with a smidge of color

i can't help but be drawn to this color scheme for the girls' room. 

everything i look at for them ends up being these colors. 

i have been known to change my mind...

in light of the beginning of this post, i believe CJ will be getting one of these.

now, on to master bedroom color...

SW Grey Screen? it's a beautiful soft blue tone in the bedroom like this...

or maybe SW Agreeable Grey?

ha ha.. no really, they are very different colors!

and yes, i'm changing things up a bit considering my current kitchen color is

Waverly Salmon Shade

{Blueberry Waffles with Lemon Icing}

I found this recipe at Vegan Yum Yum. Blueberry and Lemon just may be my favorite combination. With a couple of minor adjustments {for personal prefrence} it's rather yummy. Hubs worried they'd be "no bueno" when he heard the word "vegan" but after assuring him that I made some adjustments, he tried and liked them a lot.
It's a touch of sweet and sour for breakfast. My favorite!

Waffles
What You'll Need:
2 Cups All Purpose Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
3 Tbs Sugar
2 cups kefir {can be subbed with 2/3 c plain yogurt and 1 1/3 c milk}
5 Tbs Water
1/3 Cup Oil
1 Cup Fresh Blueberries (*see note about using frozen)
Spray Oil for the waffle iron

What To Do:
Preheat your waffle iron.

Mix all the dry ingredients together well with a whisk. In another bowl, whisk the wet ingredients together. Combine wet and dry, then gently fold in berries.
Spray your waffle iron with a little bit of oil and make a test waffle. In my waffle maker, 1/2 cup of batter is perfect for a single waffle, and they cook for 10 minutes. Follow the instructions or your preferred directions for your waffle maker. This recipe makes 10 waffles if each waffle uses 1/2 cup of batter.

*If using frozen blueberries, keep them in the freezer until the last second. Reserve 1-2 Tbs of your dry mixture. When you’re ready to add the blueberries, take them out of the freezer, measure them and mix them with the reserved dry mixture. Then fold them into your mixed batter in NO MORE than three (3!!) folds. This will prevent your batter from turning a gray-purple color.

Lemon Icing
What You'll Need:
1 c powdered sugar
1 t lemon juice
zest of 1/2 lemon
2-4 T milk

What To Do:
Mix in a blender until smooth. You can do it without a blender if you feel like sifting your powdered sugar to make sure there are no lumps.

Fall Decor

I can't believe it's this time already! September 2nd! It can't be!
Do you remember when you were a kid and your parents would tell you something was going to happen in a week? It seemed like it took forever. Nowadays a whole week goes by and I don't even notice .
It's those darn munchkins, I tell ya! They somehow manage to speed up the clock.

Well anyway, the reality is that autumn is coming and, being a true New Englander, this means that my all-time favorite season is on it's way!
Fellow New Englanders and those of you who seem to experience no seasonal change whatsoever, this is for you.


repeat. repeat. repeat. pick one or two items or "themes" and repeat them. i.e. rather than hunting down 5 different fall items for your mantel, pick 7 different pumpkins {try to stick with one trait to keep your look uniform...same size, same color, same shape} and use just those. the greater the variety of items you use the more likely you are to overwhelm the eye and to look right over something special. 

{good housekeeping}

 {oh brooke}

do one thing and do it well. commit. if you're not careful, you can easily under-do your decorating and it can end up looking cheesy or cheap. this doesn't necessarily mean spendin' the big bucks. take the photo below, for instance... this is commitment! if they had skimped and put only one or two pumpkins at the base of each branch it'd look sparse. notice the branches too... if they had chosen branches that were too small, it would have looked "dinky". if, like most of us, you are working on a tight budget, do what you can but do it well. rather than four branch piles, only do two {one on either side of the door or on either side of the stairs} and cut the pumpkin collection down by half and pile three around one and three or five around the other {remember, odd numbers are more pleasing to the eye}. use this idea all over your house. this will keep your projects from looking cheap or cluttered and may actually save you money by keeping you from buying lots of little things that can add up quickly.

{good housekeeping}

one pumpkin on the shelf? oh no, my friend! commit!

{design mom}

small changes can mean big impact. like the frames below, simply changing out the pictures in your frames to fall landscapes {which can be found in old calendars, post cards, magazines, or you can take pictures and print them out} makes a definite impact and it can be done for pennies. take a look around, do you have any accessories, pillow cases, or blankets that lends themselves to fall color? swap them out and see the change. 

{sweet something designs} 

 

{brassy apple}

go au natural. if you can find it outdoors, it's probably perfect for indoor decorating this season. {apples, acorns, pine cones, leaves, branches, bittersweet...}

{pottery barn}

{good housekeeping}

think color. oranges and greens are a given. consider reds, teals, and purples too.

 {lula belle design}

 {pottery barn}

{the red thread}

{armonia decors}

scrapbook paper can be your friend. find patterns you love that warm you insides and make you smell apple cider. put pages in an empty picture frame for a punch of color. modge podge it wooden frames or blocks.

- spell it out. there's something about the words of the season that makes me all warm and fuzzy inside. find items that use the words "fall", "autumn","apples","pumpkin","leaves"

 

{sugar pie farmhouse}

{pattis primatives}

{320 sycamore}

think "well loved". worn edges, crackling paint, and signs of age all seem to warm up a place. you can buy items at flea markets and tag sales already used or you can use paint techniques on inexpensive items to create the look. (crackling mediums are easy to find at craft supply stores {elmers glue works too}. sand paper and gel stain can work wonders. even wax and soap help chip paint.)

{kennedy klan news and honeybee heaven} 

 {bhldn}

{my sweet savannah}

appeal to all the senses. one of the best ways to get in the spirit of the season is to cover all the senses. sight and touch are easy {table scapes, wall decor, pillows, blankets...} but don't forget smell and taste {candles and fresh baked goods. apples, cinnamon, nutmeg, pears, beef stew, and other hearty dishes} and, for me, the sounds of classical music tends to set the mood.

 {thrifty decor chick}

{sugar and spice}

{pixdaus}

I can smell the cider donuts already!

Chalk Plates

I saw this idea ages ago on an Etsy shop and it was one of those things I looked at and said  "I could totally do that!"
So I did.
I purchased a can of chalkboard spray paint and painter's tape at the hardware store and found 8 plastic plates at a tag sale.
Then I got to work.

 

 

 

And in case you haven't seen this idea yet, Meg from "Whatever..." made chalk paint for her kids and, to her surprise, they loved it. Summer's not over yet... give it a shot!