{Sweetness}

I spent today enjoying a few sweet things in life. I always try to keep our Sundays low key so we can rest up ,and be ready for another busy week.

I have waited for the day where Ava has that one thing that she is somewhat attached to. Call me crazy but I seem to think it is cute when kids have a special "lovie." Ava has finally found her beloved "lovie." Meet lab dog. Yes, I know such a creative name, but that is what she insists on calling it. This was her today after her nap getting some last minute cuddles in with Lab dog.

This week I decided to give Ava something special that I have been holding on to for her. This was my Tinkerbell snow globe that I received one year for Christmas. My mom was so good at keeping things that we might one day want to pass down to our children. Though this is no heirloom piece, I knew Ava would love it. And since it belonged to me as a little girl I knew it would be special to her. Her reaction was no let down...............she was thrilled!

This was her expression after I gave it to her! There was a squeal of excitement that went along with this priceless face. I love that my sweet little girl is so easy to please. She has sat in her floor all day listening  to it play "You can Fly."

One another sweet note......I made some of our favorite banana bread. This is pretty much a staple in our house. I try not to cook too many sweets, but this is one that we enjoy frequently. It is requested quite often at David's fire station as well. I thought I would share the recipe. It is by far the best banana bread ever!

 1/2 cut coconut oil 
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1/4  cup buttermilk
1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1tsp vanilla
pinch of salt
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1 cup of chopped nuts 


Heat oven to 375. Cream butter, sugar, and eggs together. Add buttermilk. Combine flour, baking soda, vanilla and salt in a separate bowl. Add to creamed mixture, mix until combined, then add mashed bananas. Fold in nuts. Pour into one large greased loaf pan or two small loaf pans. ( whichever you prefer.) Bake 45 min. Cool and turn out. 

*If you choose to use the large pan cooking time should be increased a bit!!! 


Enjoy!

I hope you are enjoying some sweetness in your life.

{4} and PreK

Whew! I seemed to have forgotten that I have a blog! ( Not really!) Summer just got the best of me, and I was enjoying our sweet summer time, soaking up some sweet time with the family.

It happened folks.....my little girl turned {4}!!!! I told her she was not allowed to grow anymore, but  she went ahead and did it. And while she was at it she started Pre-K on me.

Life with this sweet little face is full of so much JOY. Her sweet little spirit never ceases to amaze me, and it is a constant reminder of our Saviors grace and love. She is all things girl. You will likely catch her playing in her jewelry box and "accessorizing" or playing with her dolls.

Tea parties are another frequent occurrence in our house.

The old saying " they grow up too fast" is really starting to hit home with this momma. I am seeing it first hand. While I will always miss my baby being a "baby," I can honestly say I enjoy getting to experience her new milestones and stages. Watching her grow into a "little girl" has been such a blessing. 

My Sweet Ava Joy,

I hope you will always remember how much you are loved by your Mommy and Daddy, but most of all by your Heavenly Father. Your love for the people around you is such a blessing to see. You are overjoyed to see all of your friends and teachers when you go to school. Your personality has blossomed into something beautiful. I pray that this sweet love you have for others would grow into a love and thirst for our Savior. I love you Ava joy! Love, Mommy

Scrubbing into SpRiNg

Well not much has been going on in this nest other than a lot of scrubbing. I have scrubbed and de-cluttered almost every nook and cranny of our house. And let me tell you I was surprised by all of the "yuck" ( for lack of a better word) that I found.

I use to think I was pretty diligent about keeping my house clean, and honestly at surface level I am. BUT once I started moving furniture and appliances to clean behind them......oh my yuck!!!

If you ever want to do something that will make you feel like you accomplished something BIG......pull your stove out from the wall and clean behind it, and down the sides of it. I felt like my house was 10x cleaner when I was finished.

..............And while doing this I learned something that was life changing for me...........

Did you know the knobs on the front of your stove come off?????? I may be putting myself out there to look like a complete dummy.....and I am okay with that. But seriously it is almost as if I heard the angels in heaven singing when I discovered this. I have scrubbed around these things with a toothbrush only to be disappointed that I could not get all of the junk out. But not any more .....I will probably pull these little beauties off and clean them everyday.....why???  Because I CAN!!!!

And it is always nice to have a cute little helper nipping at your heals. Okay....I will be honest sometimes ( well most of the time) ....it is frustrating, but I am learning to embrace this time with her. She loves to clean with mommy......and I know one day that will not be the case.

going {{GREEN}}

In my efforts to surround my home with more natural products ( ....a little bit at a time...)  I decided to begin a quest of adding more green to my home decor by using live plants.  I took a little trip to Lowes the other day and this is what I mustered up.

It is almost like plants bring a breath of fresh air to the room. And not to mention the texture that they add. 

I have also fallen in love with this beautiful moss that I picked up a while ago at HL. The possibilities with this stuff are endless. I love the subtle pop of color it gives. 

On another note I purchased this awesome Hymnal the other day, and I am having a little problem!!! ....I originally bought this little beauty because I have seen some pretty cute ideas out there using the pages from a hymn book........BUT I can not bring myself to tear the pages out.  So here it sits. 

And for my favorite type of green .....who can resist these precious little wild onion flowers ( weeds )  picked by a certain sweet little three year old.

amazing {bread}

I mentioned HERE that I finally found a delicious and easy bread recipe!

You must try this. It is super duper easy and so yummy! I honestly have not bought a loaf of bread in the last few months because we are addicted to this bread. It makes the BEST sandwiches, and it gives a whole other meaning to the grilled cheese!

{amazing} and {easy} bread:

In mixing bowl pour:
2.5 Cups hot tap water
1 T. salt
1/3Cup of oil ( i use coconut oil)
1/3 cup of honey
The 2 T. dry yeast ( 2 packets of active dry yeast)
Then add the 2 eggs
Mix in your flour...( I use either King Arthur unbleached flour or the King Arthur bread flour)  usually it takes about 6 cups of flour. I have learned that it depends on the weather and such...basically add the flour until the dough leaves the sides of the bowl.
After the flour is all mixed in, leave the machine to knead it for..10 minutes... ( i use my kitchen aid stand mixer and just let it run on speed 2 for 10 minutes)

Pour a pool of oil on your counter top,
Pull the dough out, with oiled hands, push all the dough into a big ball.
Cut that ball into 2 pieces...shape each piece into a loaf, place in Pam-sprayed pans.

Set the 2 pans of dough on top of the stove, cover with thin kitchen towel...
Turn oven on to 350*....Let bread raise for about 35 minutes, until it's about 1 1/2 inches above side of pan.
Place them in the oven..set the timer for 35 minutes.
When done, take them out, place each loaf on the cooling rack, slightly butter the tops..let cool.

You can also make this into a Whole Wheat bread:
for "all" wheat bread use about 5 3/4 cups of whole wheat flour
for a 1/2 white 1/2 whole wheat bread use 4 3/4 cups whole wheat flour and 1 3/4 cups white flour.

Enjoy!!!!!

~Printed Book Pages~

I have been seeing some pretty cute things out there in blogland using book pages. So today while I had a little "free time," I decided to give it a whirl,and start tearing some pages out of the old books that I have been collecting.

The hardest part of this project for me, was deciding what cute graphic I wanted to print on my book page. {There are some pretty cute images out there!} ......Thanks to the graphic fairy I found what I wanted. Go HERE if you what to try your hand at printing some of these awesome graphics.


I started with this:

I picked up a set of four of these at an Estate Sale and since sea shells just aren't my thang'........

I ended up with this:

I distressed my frame a bit using some good ol' sand paper and just placed my book page in the frame. Super easy! ........I am all about that!


It is a perfect little accessory to my kitchen.....that is still not complete but coming right along.

Have a lovely weekend!

{Love} is all you need

We have been busy today making Valentine's for Ava's friends at school. I must admit I think mommy has enjoyed this a little too much. Oh well , what's a girl to do with some cute little {vintage} printable Valentine's! I just could not help myself. 

Ava was quite the little helper gluing these little cuties together. I love days like this with my sweet girl. Go {here} for a cute selection of printable Valentines!

We ventured out to a few garage sales this morning and enjoyed breakfast together at the donut shop. And heavens can my little girl pack away some donuts!! {it must have something to do with the fact that they are pink with sprinkles on them!!} .....oh and as a side note: Is it sad when your 3yr old wakes up on a Saturday morning and asks to go garage sailing?? I thought kids were suppose to like Saturday morning cartoons not garage sales!!! ......oh well I happen to think it is quite darling!!!

I hope you all are enjoying this season of {Love}. What a great reminder of our Saviors unfailing love!

"But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation." Psalm 13:5

"The LORD loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love." Psalm 33:5