Random iPhone pics

I dumped some pics off my iphone and had to share a few of them.  

This snowman has been sitting above the tv for several weeks obviously but Lucy just came up to it the other day and said in a really pitiful sad voice, "Bless his heart.  He has a stick in his nose." I laughed til I cried.  How does a 2 year old know to say that?  Hhhmm....she must have heard me say it.  Whoops!

I was finishing up my Christmas shopping the other day in Dillards and I turn around to see this below.  It was totally not staged she didn't even know I was taking the picture!  Priceless!!!

We were at Cracker Barrel the other day and Jay picked up this big fake tarantula and put it down on the ground behind Lucy.  You would have thought a black bear was after her!!!!  She squealed so loud people began looking at us from all directions.  And one old lady that was working in the toy section gave us a look that meant something really ugly!  We could not quit laughing...after we calmed Lucy down first and put the crazy spider away haha!

Cici's the other night haha....

Another Cracker Barrel pic and totally unstaged.  He might have a little organization from his momma after all!

She made this for Brayden out of play-doh and surprised him.  It says, "I love Brayden!"  :)

My Lulu chowing on some broccoli and carrots...

Play-doh is fun but oh so messy!

Ok so today I had to clean house (and pack) before we leave for the mountains. My tile grout has been eating at me for a while now but I just haven't had the time to do it.  But I couldn't stand it any longer and bit the bullet today.  I scrubbed both bathrooms' grout with a toothbrush and bleach.  I could not believe how gross they were...even worse than I thought.  GROSS!  And I am a VERY clean person and mop constantly so I couldn't believe they had gotten that bad!

You can see the difference!

We were packing today and I told Lucy to go find a swimsuit.  She put it on herself and came out looking like this haha!

Never a dull moment!  But I love every part of it!

Master bathroom/closets overhaul

This last week I spent a lot of time starting my Spring cleaning.  I usually start with one room and clean everything in it...baseboards (some painting if needed), wipe down doors, cabinets, reorganize all, vacuum, clean fans, blinds, windows, light fixtures etc.  I started with my closet and took everything out and reorganized all of it.  However I noticed a BUNCH of black scuff marks on the walls and that bothered me so I thought I would do some touch up paint.  However, I didn't realize that it wasn't the same color because the paint looks different when wet.  So I was left with a bigger mess ugh!

So my few hour project turned into a 3 day project.  I had to go to Walmart and buy new paint and paint the whole thing.  Then the next day I was able to put everything back in it with pretty walls.  :)  

My makeshift bracelet/necklace organizer.....

Then I did Jay's closet...

My bathroom was this color and it is 5 year old paint job and I don't like the color anymore so I decided to go ahead and paint it too.

I painted it neutral khaki just like my closet and I even let Karis and her friend Ellie "help" me do this section.  Of course I had to paint over it but she had so much fun.

Those of you who deep clean, why is it that we don't realize how gross things are until we start the cleaning?!    For the record, I had never noticed this (and I am a clean freak!) on my ceiling partly because the light is always shining so it is hard to see but take a look at this nasty thing!

GROSS!  There was more dust and dirt where that came from but no longer!  My bathroom, bedroom and closets are spic and span and now it is time to start on another room.  Here's to having a clean house!!!

Newly painted bathroom...

Spring Cleaning!

I have been MIA for the past several days due to the fact that it is Spring Cleaning days at our house.  I am cleaning out every drawer, corner, shelf and closet.  I do this at the beginning of every summer and it has taken from morning to night to catch up on everything!  I have to admit I kind of enjoy it and I REALLY enjoy the result when it is all said and done!  I have even done some painting too so it is taking me longer than normal.  See you when I can find a way out of all the piles haha!

Fun family Saturday

Today was a wonderful day...the best Saturday we have had in a long while.  The morning started off with B's soccer game at 9:00 a.m.  It was a little early but I loved it because it got us going for the day and we were home way before lunch and had lots of time left in the day.  The weather couldn't have been more gorgeous!

My boy, the goalie (for a portion of the game anyway)...

Karis brought her coloring supplies as always...

Brayden and his buddy and teammate Brayden

We sat right behind the bench so when Brayden was "benched," he came and laid on our blanket.  I looked over next to me on the ground and this is what I saw...

Lucy and her daddy :)

Oh and today's funny Brayden moment was as he was running down the field (DURING the game) I heard Brayden tell his coach..."Hey coach, one time...when I was fishing with my daddy, I got the hook caught in my finger!"  I was laughing so hard!  I am sure his coach could care less and was wondering why in the world Brayden waited to tell him that in the middle of the game!!!  

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For lunch/appetizer, I made a wonderful recipe that I found on this blog.  I wondered if it would really be good, but it was delicious!  Jay loved it and so did I!

Bistro Style Onion and Artichoke Galette 

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 large sweet onion, thinly sliced
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp garlic and herb seasoning blend
1 refrigerated pie crust
1 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
4 oz Gruyere cheese, shredded (1 cup)
1 jar (6 oz) marinated artichoke hearts, well drained, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup chopped well-drained fire-roasted red bell peppers (from 7.5 oz jar)
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 tsp finely chopped fresh thyme leaves (I used dried, it was fine)
1 egg white

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 375
• In a 10-inch nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onion; cook 8-10 minutes, stirring frequently. Reduce heat to medium. Stir in balsamic vinegar and seasoning blend, cook 3-6 minutes, stirring frequently until liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat.
• Either grease a cookie sheet with cooking spray, or line with parchment paper. Unroll the pie crust, and brush with Dijon mustard.
• Sprinkle 2/3 cup cheese on the crust, leaving a 1 inch border. Spread onions over evenly. Add red peppers and artichoke hearts, sprinkle with red pepper flakes and thyme and top with remaining shredded cheese.
• Fold up edges of dough, tucking as needed.Brush with egg white.
• Bake 375 for 20-25 minutes until golden brown. Let cool 15 minutes. Slice and serve!

It was so yummy!  The flavors all worked very well together and I will definitely make this one again.  It looked and sounded fancy but it really was fairly simple and tasted delicious!

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Ok...so I have found my new best friend!!!  You probably won't guess what it is unless you are neat, clean freak nerd like me.  Anyway, it is the power washer!!!  We have had it for a while but have put it off because I knew it was one of those projects you couldn't leave half done.  So I was determined to do it this afternoon.  Check out the difference...this was a  section I left undone so you could see the difference.  AMAZING!  This was part of my driveway....(and yes, that's dirt).

It knocked up so much dirt my shoes needed a power washing of their own haha!

Meet my new best friend...

The kids rode bikes with Jay while I pressure washed and then the kids and I jumped on the trampoline for a long time...flips and all.  I will be sore tomorrow but it was fun!

Tonight we had Pioneer Woman's Roasted Vegetable Minestrone and it was yummy too.  We all had baths and showers, enjoyed some ice cream, I cleaned a little and now we are watching football...there were some great games today!  Arkansas vs. Auburn...wow.  State beating Florida...shocking.  Great ending to Kentucky game.  And those black bears coming on at 8 against Alabama...oh me.  Don't even get me started on the new mascot...em-bar-a-ssing!  Oh well let's go REBELS!

Overall, it was a wonderful Saturday.  Looking forward to church tomorrow! :)