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

: Giddy :

Do you have something in your house that just makes you kind of Giddy when you look at it?? You know what I am talking about .....something that is just constant eye candy...you know that feeling you get when you are  looking at your new Pottery Barn catalog or when you are browsing through your new Country Living issue??

Well.................I have something that just tugs on my heart strings ( other than my precious Ava)

I found these lovely curtains during one of my browsing adventures at Tuesday Morning......{yes I go on many browsing adventures! } I have been wanting some curtains for our bedroom, but I was not sure what to put in there. I will be honest, I am easily intimidated by curtains. I knew that I wanted some sort of print but I did not want anything too bold. I saw theses and I knew these where the ones I had been searching for! They are Waverly and are retailed at a whopping 180.00 for the pair and I scored them for 39.99!!!

I think they compliment our room nicely! 

You know what else is just making me giddy right now? This precious little girl

Meet Exie Jo Kramer, born Jan 31. Isn't she beautiful! My sister has the most beautiful babies. I am so trilled to have another precious niece! 

Okay I am on my way out to the farm to love on this sweet little angle!

~These are the moments~

I am learning as a parent there are little moments in life that are worth pausing for.

As sad as it may seem sometimes it is just plain hard to stop folding the mounds of laundry, and sweeping the crumbs off the floor to admire the beauty of our children doing something .....or nothing. 

I know that one day I will miss these little feet that pitter patter across the house to wake me from my deep slumber.

I will miss the sweet little voice that ask for juice or milk a million times a day. 

I will miss wiping the little nose that seems to constantly run between the months of Dec and Feb!

I will miss the sweet little voice that sings praise and worship songs in the back seat of the car.

And I will for sure miss our crazy little bedtime routine that Ava has come up with!! .....it goes a little something like this....~butterflies, noses, kisses, hugs, sweets ( where she rubs our cheeks) , ears ( where she pulls our ears) and foreheads  ( where we rub our  foreheads together) ....and then kisses again! Whew!.....yes she does this everynight and has done so for about 1year or so! I am determined to get it on video one day soon to savor as a sweet memory. 

I will for sure miss watching these little hands put puzzles together.

 

I suppose I might even miss walking into Ava's room and finding surprises like this! 

Oh the joys of parenting!