Inspired by Williams Sonoma

I love William Sonoma's linens and table decorations! They are so classy and timeless, and I would love to have them. However, they are a bit pricey for our budget at this point in our lives.
I wanted to make a new table runner as the burlap one I made last month has not stood up to the hands of time. I found some fabric at JoAnns the other day, so this afternoon I whipped up a new runner.

Other than the ribbon puckering a bit, I am very pleased with how it turned out. It looks fresh and crisp, and if I close my eyes a bit when I look at it I can imagine I am in my house in the Hamptons and Ina Garten is coming over for our daily chat over coffee!!! (A girl has to have dreams....right?)

Bring on the Girly-ness!!

This afternoon I got to spend time with a good friend's little girl. From the pink chocolate chip pancakes for lunch to the crafts all afternoon it was a wonderfully girly time!
We started out with some Pinkalicious pancakes.

She had had chocolate chip pancakes the last time she was here, but today I decided that pink pancakes would be really fun. My little professor isn't a fan of pink food, he declares with "too girly", but he was in school today...so bring on the pink!!

After I put my little Roo down for a nap I brought out a craft that I had really wanted to do, but Roo is a bit young for it.

I am a sucker for hand-crafts, and love the fact that the plant is her hand! She had lots of fun designing the flowers.
One craft wasn't nearly enough, so after doing some searching on Pinterest we decided to make glitter playdough!

I was a little nervous, because you have to cook the playdough, but it was wonderfully easy and easy to clean up, which is nice as well. It is a real kid friendly recipe.
Glitter Playdough
1 cup flour
1 cup water
1/4 cup salt
1TBSP oil
2 tsp cream of tarter
1 pkg of Kool aid
GLITTER!!!

Mix all the ingredients except the Kool aid and glitter in a bowl. Stir until pretty smooth. Add in the Kool aid, stir until all one color. Add in as much glitter as you would like.
Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until it comes together, then flatten it out and cook it like a pancake for about 1 minute on each side. Let cool then play!
(I doubled the recipe and separated the dough into two bowls before I mixed in the Kool aid so that we would have different colors)

Pajama Walk

Tonight after dinner I decided to take the kids on a "Pajama Walk". I saw the idea in Disney's Family Fun magazine, and decided that tonight was the night we were going to try it out.
The idea is simple, get the kids in the pjs and talk a walk around the neighborhood, silly....yes....kinda embarassing for the parent....oh yes, but the fun the kids had outweighed the embarressment, and I earned "cool mommy" points from a bunch of the kids in our neighborhood!

The kids their pj's...my little Roo had to accessorize and we were off!!!

They took off....of course my little professor had to explain what we were doing to each person we met, and there were alot of people out enjoying the lovely weather this evening!

Roo had to stop and pick a flower!
After our walk the kids had walked off their dinner, so 2 oreo cookies a piece were in order. They were mint filled, and the kids thought they were really cool!

It was "monkey see, monkey do" as Roo tried to be just like her big brother. I loved hearing the giggles and chatters that went on while they were eating their cookies.

It was a wonderful, laughter filled evening. It was nice and relaxing, and I see alot more Pajama Walks in our future!!

Family Pictures.....6 Years in the Making!

My dear hubby and I have been married for just about 6 years, in that time we have never really had a family portrait session. We have had pictures where I posed us and then handed off my camera to my mother in law and she snapped it, but we never really have had an opportunity to have a session.
Recently God brought a wonderfully talented lady into my life. As we chatted at Book Club we discovered our shared passion in photography. I looked at some of her work and was very impressed, we have similair shooting styles. So we looked at our schedules and worked out a time when Pae was visiting to do a session.
After the shoot she posted a few pictures here and there on Facebook, but today I was able to see all of them, and I LOVE them!

This is my favorite, as it is a true picture of us, trying to juggle kids and marriage!

She was so patient as we worked to get all three kids co-operating at the same time!

She even took some time to get some photos of my wonderful husband and I, and I have to say he was a very good sport for putting up with his crazy wife!!

The best part was being able to celebrate our family. It was great to have all three kids together and spend time outside laughing and enjoying each other.

Check out some more of Lindsay's work on Facebook....Sweet Snaps by Lindsay C

His Grace

Saturday was a day that was completely not what I had planned. On days like that I usually get really stressed and grumpy, but today I took the time to stop, and appreciate God's control.
Last night when I got home from a game night I found my hubby in the bathroom as sick as a dog. I got him tucked into bed and ran out and picked up some ginger ale and started praying that he would feel perfect this morning because Pae was flying in from Fl in the late afternoon.
This morning when I woke up I could see that he was still feeling really lousy. I mentally re-did my day, planning to call my mother-in-law when it was a little later in the morning and see if she would like to come and sit with the kids while I got Pae from the airport.
The kids and I headed downstairs and I set them up with breakfast. I logged onto my facebook account and was leisurly strolling through my updates, then I saw one that made me stop. It was from Pae's mom stating that she had just taken off....about an hour ago!! I yelled for Andrew, threw clothes on, turned on the cartoons for the kids and ran out the door.
Traffic was good and security was a breeze and I made it to the gate with enough time to enjoy a cup of Starbucks with an extra shot of esspresso!
I got Pae with no complications, I even remembered where I parked my car (which is a miracle in itself).
We got home, had a snack and I decided I was going to take the kids out so that my lovely husband could get some rest. I decided bowling would be fun. Well, I didn't think this through and because I am not an bowler I didn't realize that they have leauge play on Saturdays. Both bowling alleys we went to were completely full!
Onto Plan B, which was to take the kids to the mall to walk around. It was an experience! Because the mall was plan "B" I didn't have a stroller to help corral my little Roo. So I had all three kids walking around a very crowded mall. Thank goodness Pae was there! She helped me out so much. The kids had fun. My little professor got to buy a new LEGO Star Wars set, and Pae and Reagan got new clothes. I was able to get all three green shirts for St. Patty's day at Old Navy. The girls got the typical shamrock shirts, while my little professor lucked out with a "Green Lantern" shirt.......for those of you who watch Big Bang Theory and know my son you know how funny this is!
After the mall we went home for some lunch, naps and a laid back afternoon.
A few years ago a day like Saturday would have thrown me for a loop. Now I am a mom and the verse, "My grace is sufficient for you" has taken on a whole new meaning. His grace is more than enough to handle any schedule changes life throws in my way. His grace showed me little snapshots of memories that the "normal" day wouldn't have had. His grace is more than perfect in my weakness.

Luck of the Irish

St. Patricks Day is one of my favorite holidays! It is just fun, no stress, no expectations...just a day full creative fun.
Of course I have to decorate for this holiday, and I was sadly disapointed in the decorations at the stores....so I decided to make some myself!
The first one I made was inspired by a picture I saw on Pinterest.

It was a simple decoration to make. I used a tin that I had picked up at Hobby Lobby last year. In the bottom I put some floral styrofoam. The sticks are from the floral department as well. I used a stencil to outline the clovers, and used double sided tape to stick them on the sticks. The lettering was some gel letters I pick up last year.

The second craft I made this morning. It was along the same idea, but a little different.

I used a heart paper punch to put these these clovers together, a little tape and some regular Elmer's glue to put the buttons in the middle and they were ready to go!

I plan on doing a few more crafts with the kids to help bring some more "irish" into our house before the big day!

My Name is Kate....and Yes, we are Self Proclaimed Foodies

Once a year my husband and I place a rather large order at Penzeys.com. They have, in my opinion, the best dried herbs, spices and flavorings.
Our order came in while my hubby was away, so now that he is back we put all the goodies away and have a very full spice cabinet!

We have so many that we had to divide it between two shelves.

With all these lovely spices and herbs at my disposal I decided to try something new last night for dinner. A curried roasted cauliflower soup.
My husband loves curry and other Indian flavors, but that is really not in my comfort zone. But I decided to dive right in. It was a wonderful, flavorful soup, and really, really healthy!

Curried Roasted Cauliflower Soup
1 head of cauliflower cut up into pieces
3 large carrots cut up in to 1 " pieces
1 head of garlic cut in half
2 TBSP olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 stalks of celery, diced
1 granny smith apple, diced
2 cans chicken broth
2 tsp sweet curry powder
1/2 tsp hot pepper flakes
1 tsp hot curry powder
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp Garam Masala
1 cup Greek yogurt (you can also use regular yogurt, I just happened to have Greek on hand)

Put the cauliflower, garlic and carrots on a baking sheet drizzle with the olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast at 425 for 40 minutes.
In a large pot drizzle about another tablespoon of olive oil and heat on medium heat. Once oil is hot add onions, celery and the apple. Cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add roasted vegetables and chicken broth. Add in all the spices. Cook down for about 45 minutes.
Once it is cooked down use an immersion blender or regular blender to blend it well, it should be thick, if you want a thinner soup just add more chicken broth. When it is blended add the cup of yogurt and bring it back up to temperature over medium heat. It took about 20 minutes

I made the soup during naptime, up to the part where you add the yogurt. It was really easy to finish at dinner time. I served mine with some sliced apples on top to add a bit of sweetness and crunch.

I Am Back!!!

This past two weeks have been a whirlwind! While my hubby was gone I had such great aspirations to do so much cleaning and crating and be the all around, "Super Mom". However, because of sick kids and life in general I wasn't nearly as productive as I wanted to be.
I let that get me down. I tend to be a perfectionist when it comes to myself, and I have a tendancy to beat myself up when perfection isn't ment. So this week I have gotten my feet back under me, I have done a little crafting and today I took some time to have "adventures in photography" with my little Roo.
Since her brithday I have wanted to take some two year old photos of her. One thing I have realized today is that it is easier to take pictures of other people's children, than of your own. I think it is because with other people's children I am entertaining, my children see "my act" everyday, so I am boring!
Last year, when she was one she was still such a baby.

I was wondering if her hair would EVER grow in!
Throughout the past year she has grown up so much! She has become a very vibrant little girl, who loves her princess's but is as rough and tumble as they come!

(a helmet was a must for this birthday as she got both a scooter and a trike!)
She has struggled with her health. Back in the fall she was diagnosed with epilepsy. She has spent way too much time at doctors office's, and had more procedures than I can count. But none of that has slowed her down! She NEVER stops moving, she brings so much joy and spirit to our lives.

I really enjoyed my time with my little girl this morning, no I didn't get all the pictures I wanted too, but got so many that weren't planned and that I love!