Friday, July 31, 2015

Five on Friday



1. We are still soaking up Summer.



2. See these kitchen chairs? I liked them, but they were really loud on our tile floors. There are little feet on bottom that made it so that I couldn't put any type of pad on them to make them quieter. I came across the perfect little chairs on a FB buy/sell page and snatched them up. They are nice and solid, but need to be painted. I am going to paint them white. I feel like I need to go ahead and repaint the table while I am at it. I'm thinking about a shade of gray, but can't decide if it should be a dark or medium shade. I painted the walls gray last week. Any suggestions?



3. Next week I am starting my new homeschool series. You will see a new homeschool post each Wednesday for the next 8 weeks.

4. I'm still not ready to think about school starting in just a few short weeks.

5. I posted 3 new YouTube videos this week - Target Beauty Box, July Empties, and July Favorites.  Please check them out and then let me know if you have any video requests.

I'm linking up with High Five for Friday, Oh Hey, Friday, 5 on Friday, & Diary of a Real Housewife.
 

Monday, July 27, 2015

Meal Plan Monday #13


Sunday - Chicken Salad Sandwiches (Have you figured out that we pretty much each some kind of sandwich on Sundays? It's just so easy.)

Monday - Chicken and Rice Casserole, Roasted Okra, and Fresh Peas
I have been making this version of chicken and rice for years. It is always my favorite. I use reg. flour, no onion, and I season my chicken with several other things before adding the flour.

Tuesday - Seafood Quesadillas or Nachos (I haven't decided which one yet, but I have the stuff for both.)

Wednesday - Cheeseburger Macaroni, Broccoli, and Garlic Bread

Thursday - Leftovers

Friday - Out - Asher w/Cade, Me w/Henry

Saturday - Date Night <3
 

Friday, July 24, 2015

Five on Friday

I hope you have all had a great week! It's been a good one, but I am so glad that it is Friday. We haven't been home much all week, so I am spending the day catching up so that we can relax tomorrow.


1. I spent the day Tuesday painting our kitchen and dining room. Here is a sneak peek of the color. I'm really happy with the way it turned out. I will do a full post about this soon, but for now, just look how cute my little helper is!


2. Don't let this face fool you, Henry can't get enough of his new cousin! He is the sweetest little baby.


3. I decided on Thursday that the boys and I just needed a really fun day. We ran a few errands, stopped at Sonic for a quick hot dog because it was #nationalhotdogday, hit the pool for a little while, stopped at the library for a new large stack up books, and then stopped by McCallisters on the way home for a #freeteaday2015. McGruff was there, so the boys wanted their pic with him. It was just a really good day. I love spending time with my guys.


4. I posted our home tour this week so that I could link up for Show & Tell Tuesday at Momfessionals. You can see the entire post HERE.


5. I also posted my video for the July Ipsy Bag. You can check it out HERE.


I hope you all have  wonderful weekend!

How is July almost over?


I'm linking up with High Five for Friday, Oh Hey, Friday, 5 on Friday, & Diary of a Real Housewife.

Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Show and Tell Tuesday: Home Tour

Every other Tuesday, Andrea, from Momfessionals hosts Show and Tell Tuesday. Today is home tours.

I really wanted to take update pics yesterday for this, but I was in the middle of painting my kitchen and dining room. You know that means my whole house is completely trashed, right? These pics will have to do.

I'm going to start with my office/den because this the room you would enter if you are one of my friends! We only use the front to let the dog out or when we are hosting a party/shower and people come that we aren't really close to.

Our Den/My Office  - this room looks pretty much the same other than the gallery wall. I finally got around to finishing it. You can see some of the details from this room in this post.




Kitchen - This room is still one of my favorites. We didn't do a full blown remodel when we moved in, but it has had some nice upgrades for sure. This is one of the rooms I painted yesterday, so the walls are now a different color.



Dining Room - this is the room that has changed the most number of times since we moved in. Yesterday was the 4th time I have painted this room. It's a small room and easy to change. I guess that's why I have done it so much. I really have liked it each time.


The dark teal was my favorite version of this room. It was just so pretty! We homeschool in this room so I decided that the room would work better if it was lighter and brighter, so I painted it Palladian Blue by Benjamin Moore.


The lighter brighter feel was better for our school days, but I never really liked this color in here. It's one of those colors that changes from blue to green depending on the light and most of the day it looked mint green. It just didn't feel right. A new school year is right around the corner so I knew that if I was really going to paint this room it needed to happen before school started. The buffet and curtains are gone now, too. I haven't decided what to replace them with yet. You know I will post about it when I do.

Living Room - This room has changed many times as well. I finally feel like we got the layout right. I really liked the way the room used to look, but it didn't feel comfortable.

before

in-between phase

This layout is so much cozier for our family! There is now a gallery wall above the love seat, a new tv console, and a different mirror on the wall. I really need to take some updated pictures!

This is all I am going to share for now. We recently flipflopped all of the bedrooms, the playroom, and my husband's office. I am still trying to get them finished up.

I hope you enjoyed touring the common areas of our home! Thanks for stopping by.


Monday, July 20, 2015

Meal Plan Monday # 12

We have lots of fresh veggies and fruit that need to be eaten this week, so I have planned our meals based on the stuff that needs to be used up.



 Sunday - Grilled Deer Sausage with Peppers and Onions on a Bun, Mac n Cheese, and Fruit

Y'all this was SO GOOD, and such a great alternative to a hotdog! We have a ton of deer sausage and this was the first time I had thought to do this. We grilled the deer sausage, sauteed fresh peppers and onions, cut the sausage to the length of a hotdog bun, and piled on the toppings! We will be doing this again.

Monday - BBQ Sandwiches made with last weeks leftover Pork Tenderloin, Random Leftover Sides

Tuesday - French Toast with Berry Compote, Scrambled Egges, and Leftover Deer Sausage.

Wednesday - Homemade Margarita Pita Pizza and Salad

Thursday - Grilled Chicken Tenders, Homemade Potato Salad, Sauteed Green Beans, Roasted Eggplant, and Rolls

Friday - Takeout


Saturday - Burgers on the Grill and Leftover Homemade Potato Salad

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Meal Plan Monday #11

I feel like I just disappeared on you! I had planned to do a 5 on Friday and of course get my meal plan up yesterday, but my little sister had her baby on Friday and everything changed.






Sunday Lunch - Out

Sunday Dinner - Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches and Mac n Cheese


Monday - The Pioneer Women's Bowtie Lasagna


Tuesday - Grilled Pimento Cheese Sandwiches, Fruit, and Chips

Wednesday - Honey Mustard Pork Tenderloin, Roasted Potatoes and Roasted Okra

Thursday - Leftovers

Friday - Takeout

Saturday - Baked Wings and Fries


Thursday, July 9, 2015

Small Master Closet Organization


A few months ago I decided that it was time for us to switch bedrooms and move from the master suite upstairs to the one downstairs. I felt like our kids were finally old enough for us to not be right across the hall.

There are so many reasons that it is a good thing, but the master bed room and closet downstairs are much smaller that the one upstairs.  The smaller room hasn't been a big deal, but it has taken some tweaking to make the closet fit our needs.

Our new room used to be the kid's playroom, so we had installed shelves on the side of the closet to hold bins of toys. This wasn't the best setup when it came time to fill the closet with clothes.

We used the closet as it was for a few months, but I finally decided that I needed to make some adjustments to make it fit our needs better.

We have done so many major projects the last few years and have a few smaller ones going on right now. I would really like to give this closet a complete overhaul, but I have just not been in the mood for major projects. The plan was to simply make it functional without spending a lot of time or money on this.

This is what we started with.

We do have a good size armoire that holds all of my husband jeans, shorts, t-shirts, pajamas, and undergarments. I did steal the bottom drawer so that I had a place to put my undergarments and pajamas, so those things are not in the closet.

I knew from the beginning that all of our clothes would not fit in the closet, so I pulled all of our sweaters, and more winter type clothing and stored it in that big clear bin at the top. I also put all of my winter shoes in bins and plastic boxes. This mostly worked, but the shelves on the side of the closet were in a really bad spot. They took up a lot of valuable hanging space and they were hard to get to.

The first thing I did was remove those wire shelves. I also picked up a few canvas storage bags to hold all of our winter clothes so that I could store them under our bed. This freed up quite a bit of usable space in our closet. I'm pretty sure I only paid $5 for the 2 canvas bags are ROSS.


I did go through all of the clothes and made sure to only hold on to the things that we are wearing. I didn't get rid of much because I just did this pretty recently, but every little bit helps.

I left some room between the shoe organizers and the wall on my side of the closet so that I had a space for my dresses to hang. This left a little bit of room between the shoe organizers for a set of plastic bins. They are not glamorous, but they work well for holding my workout clothes and t-shirts. It is much better that having to reach around the hanging clothes to get to them on the far side of the closet.


I have a label maker, but I wanted larger labels, so I used these Martha Stewart labels from Staples. I just wrote on them with a sharpie.

Watch this video to get the full tour of the closet!



Yes, I would really enjoy having a huge walk-in closet, but I don't, I am really thankful that I have a closet full of nice clothes and shoes. I'm also thankful that I can now get to it all. I'll just switch everything back out in the fall.

Do you have a small closet? How do you make it work for you?

I'm linking up with
iheartorganizing for the "Wait-No-More" organizing challenge
Curly Crafty Mom for Motivational Monday

Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Show and Tell Tuesday: Beauty Routines

Every other Tuesday, Andrea, from Momfessionals hosts Show and Tell Tuesday. Today is all about beauty routines.

I year ago I didn't really wear makeup daily, all of my makeup fit in one drawer with all of my other daily essentials, and didn't have much of a face cleansing routine. Let's just say a lot has changed. If you are interested in my makeup story you can see it HERE.

Here's a peek at my makeup drawer and caddy that sits in a cabinet.







I don't wear a full face of makeup everyday, but I do most days. I have a lot of makeup, so I switch out my products most days and don't typically wear the exact same thing all of the time. I really like trying new things and my favorites tend to change.

This is an example of what all I wear for a full face. (Plus an eye makeup primer or color tattoo as a base and an eyebrow product.)


I recently posted what I wear on light makeup days, so I'm just going to link to it HERE.

As far as skin care routines, I'm still trying to figure out my favorite products. I do like all of the things that I am currently using, but I haven't been using all of them for a long time. I do like my face bush. It's the Ulta brand one that is around $25.


I remove my makeup every night with a makeup removing wipe and then use a cleanser with my face brush. I then tone with witch hazel and use an AHA lotion. I finish with an oil of some kind as a moisturizer.



Each morning I just wash my face (no brush), tone with witch hazel, and use a regular moisturizer. I am liking the Garnier Moisture Rescue Refresh Gel Cream for the Summer time. 

I keep my nails painted most of the time. I usually paint my nails 1-3 times a week. I store my polish in this plastic CD case and keep all of my top/base coats in the white flower pot with the current color I am using.


I don't discriminate when it comes to brands of nail polish, but I've been wearing Essie Bikini So Teeny a lot this Summer. I normally reach for Gelous as my base coat and Seche Vite as my top coat.

If there is anything else you want to know, just ask me in the comments. Thanks for stopping by.


*This is not a sponsored post. None of the links are affiliate links, just thought you might want to know where to find some of the products.

Monday, July 6, 2015

Meal Plan Monday #10



I am trying a few new recipes this week. I don't currently have pictures of anything, but I will take pics as the week goes and get them added. 

Sunday - Chicken Wraps and Chips
We ate quickly and I forgot to take a picture, but these are very simple to make.

Ingredients
Flour Tortillas
Chicken -grilled, shredded rotisserie, or cut up chicken nuggets
Lettuce
Chopped Tomato
Shredded Cheese
Sauce of Choice - ranch, buffalo, or honey mustard

Method
- Spread sauce evenly on tortilla.
- Add lettuce, chicken, cheese, and tomatoes.
- Roll up, cut, and enjoy!


Monday - Chicken and Broccoli Alfred Baked Dish and Salad (I totally forgot to add the broccoli. Opps!)


Tuesday - Seared Tuna Steak, Rice, and Roasted Veggies

Wednesday - BBQ Nachos

Thursday - Leftovers

Friday - Chili Dogs and Chips (Mama will be out of town.)

Saturday - Pizza (Mama will be out of town.)




Friday, July 3, 2015

Five on Friday

We had a great week!

Cade left for camp on Sunday and it was just me the H-man during the day. He really missed his brother, so I tried to do a few special things to keep him busy.


1. Monday, we had a mostly chill day and then headed to the pool for a little bit.

2. Tuesday, the weather was pretty yucky so we worked on a few projects. Henry was quite the Project Manager! We cleaned out and organized the fridge and freezer, and then re-organized a few problem kitchen cabinets and drawers.


3. Wednesday was such a success that I decided to tackle another project with Henry's help. We completely rearranged our master closet. (This will be in a future blog post/youtube video.) Before we could start the project I needed to pick up a few things, so we headed out for a quick trip to ROss and Target. On the way to Ross we spotted a helicopter that was about to land, so we parked in the hospital parking lot so Henry could watch it up close. He thought it was pretty cool. He also got a snack at Target.


4. Thursday was the day Cade came home from camp. He is still super sleepy, but we are thrilled to have him back.

 

 5. I managed to get a few videos up on my YouTube channel. I am working on more videos that are not beauty related, so be on the look out for those. In the mean time, check these from this week out. Have a wonderful 4th of July weekend! See you next week.

I'm linking up with High Five for Friday, Oh Hey, Friday, 5 on Friday, & Diary of a Real Housewife.