{P} is For:

The other day Ava and I took advantage of this BEAUTIFUL weather we have been having lately and decided to explore the Letter P on the Porch!!! .....We had an Ava and mommy Porch Party.

We learned that Porches are great for:

Play-Doh.( sorry this is blurry)

Tea Parties with our Pets

Eating Popsicles in our polka dot pajamas! Ava insisted she go put these on!

And eating Pretzels!

Our Porch Party was conveniently ended by listening to the Pitter patter of the rain, and playing in a few rain puddles!

I love these  sweet days with my sweet little girl!

{Here's to blogging again}

Whew! I never knew that a break from blogging could give me such a feeling of freedom! B U T,  I think I am going to get right back into the saddle and start blogging again. I kind of reached my "wits end" with blogging in general for a while. And mainly. I think it was just a heart issue of mine that I needed to sort out.

I have had some conversations with my  much wiser than me older sister, about this whole "mommy blogging" trend, and she so beautifully summed it up {HERE}

A few quotes that touched me the most:

"Frankly, I just didn't want to be a part of fighting this battle in my own heart of needing an audience outside of my home or be a part of "feeding" into that for someone else."

"I think the thing to embrace here is for those of us who choose to be a part of blogging is to extend grace towards one another AND to ourselves. We shouldn't read blogs and leave with the feelings of discontentment or that we're lame losers because we don't do (fill in the blank) in our homes, with our families, or in our kitchens. We must know that we are only seeing a glimpse of someones life and what they want you to know. Not the entire story. Playing games of comparison with other women who you really don't know entirely and accurately is harmful and a waste of our time."


So.....with that being said, I am jumping back into this blogging thang' with a new perspective and with a lot more grace!

Tho my life feels really lame and boring some days, to say the least,  I have realized that there IS lots of life  being lived in my home, and what a great way to journal these precious moments.

I love going back and looking at past post, and reminiscing about a certain picture, a funny story or a special craft Ava and I sat down and did together.  It is one more way for me to embrace this life that is being lived in our home.........and come July we will really have some more life to embrace, with the arrival of another bundle of joy! ( i am sure there will be many post to follow about this little bundle!)

So here's to blogging in 2012! May this blog be a reflection of our life, that is full of perfect imperfections! A blog with no obligations, and a blog that extends grace towards myself and fellow bloggers!

{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!!!!!