Emerson's 1st haircut!

Big day! Emmie has been asking to get her hair cut for well over a month now.  Savannah did not have her haircut until right before starting kindergarten, well I finally gave in and today off we went!   She did GREAT and looks like such a big girl now! We are donating her ponytail just like Savannah has already done twice!  So proud of my girls for wanting to do such a sweet thing!

BEFORE!!!

AFTER!!!

Friday FAB finds!

Since the big count-down is upon us, all New Years Eve ideas for this post!

Kids NYE toast w/ Milk & cookies!

image via pinterest

Poppers!

fun & better than noisemakers for little ones!

Make your own NYE mirror ball & other crafts!

fun ideas here!

Weekly Menu!

Meal #1 Cheesy chicken and rice w/ tossed salad and rolls
Meal #2 Cinnamon roll pancakes w/ bacon & fresh fruit
Meal #3 Spagetti & meatballs w/ tossed salad and popovers (thanks mom for my new popover pan!)
Meal #4 Roasted chicken w/ garlic mashed potatoes and green beans

1 meal leftover from last week so thats all!

treats for the week
frozen hot chocolate
marshmallow popcorn

Merry Christmas!!

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!  We had a great day, everyone was in their jammies well into the afternoon!  Savannah was up earliest at 6am...we finally woke up Emmie at almost 7 since Savannah was about to burst with anticipation!  It is so much fun to see Christmas through their eyes!  For me that is what Christmas is all about, the kiddos! 

We made Christmas cookies for Santa last night and the girls opened their annual special pajamas from Aunt Connie.  We decided we really need to get a tradition started for Christmas Eve...as a kid I always spent it at my grandma's house with all the extended family, then Christmas day was at home with just our family and new toys!!!  That tradition doesn't seem to be possible for my girls so we will have to come up with a new idea starting next year instead of waiting for things to change.

Santa brought Savannah the American Girl doll Emily she has been dreaming of for well over a year! 

The big guy brought Emerson a Minnie Mouse motorcycle she has been asking about for months!

We had a dinner menu that everyone decided on..turkey, macaroni salad, deviled eggs, fresh rolls, apple pie & Christmas cookies for dessert!  Just have to share this fudge recipe, I have never attempted to make fudge, finally did yesterday...man oh man...its amazing!!!!!!!!! 

Click picture for recipe!

Friday FAB finds!

Repurposed Hangers

Loads of good ideas in here!

Santa Hat Brownie Bites

Emerson's special snack for daycare Christmas party!

Fun & Frugal ideas for Christmas

One of my most favorite websites, offering great ideas to start family traditions of your own!

Christmas Craziness!

WOW, this time of year is always hectic isn't it?  Normal everyday tasks are still there, but now on top of them is shopping, baking, parties, wrapping, crafts...on....and on...Here are some of the fun things we have been squeezing in when we can!

Christmas Dust

Savannah made this at school last year & was so fun! I decided to make a few batches and send them off to nieces & nephews! Simply oatmeal & glitter mixed together, with this cute little note ~

Christmas Dust

On Christmas Eve, sprinkle this Christmas dust all over your front lawn.

When the moonlight shines down on the snow it will sparkle.

This will make it easy for Santa to find your house…

and the reindeer will love the oats!

Elf on the Shelf

We have had lots of fun with our elf this year, he is always making mischief!  These were a few favorites!

Thumbprint Reindeer Ornaments

image via pinterest

Saw this cute idea here so we made them as gifts for some family!

School Party Treat

Saw these here, changed it up a bit, we used mini chocolate chips as eyes & mouth, candy corn for the nose, pretzel m&ms for the buttons and pull-n-peel twizzlers for the scarf!

Neighbor gifts

image via pinterest

Reinbeers!!!Saw these here before thanksgiving and knew they were perfect for our neighbors who always spoil our girls! Have all the supplies {even a Sierra Nevada holiday beer} and will be making them tomorrow to deliver!

Gingerbread House

This year I finally let go and let the girls do it all this year!  They had a blast, my OCD was outta control!

Teacher Gifts

I took the easy way out this year, still homemade gifts but just simple cookies in a cute jar!  Made the labels using the free Avery software, attached a Dunkin gift card & DONE!

Weekly Menu!

Meal #1 Baked ziti w/ tossed salad & fresh bread
Meal #2 crockpot chicken chili /w honey cornbread
Meal #3 Mac & cheese w/ hotdogs & fresh fruit
Meal #4 Chicken Noodle Soup w/ biscuits
Meal #5 Shrimp fettucinne w/ tossed salad & garlic bread

Extras!
banana chip bars
salted chocolate caramel pretzel bark

Friday FAB finds!

snowman snack

making these for Savannah's school party next week!

{few substitutions but basically the same!}

FREE printable gift tags!

these will come in handy with all the last minute wrapping I have to do!

Picture displaying!

love this idea..now just need a GREAT family photo to display on my entryway shelf!!

{which by the way looks even better now with an amazing pew cushion my friend helped out with & baskets underneath from hobby lobby for all those hats & mittens we need this time of year! Just needing a few more accessories on top and will be perfect!!}

Weekly Menu!

Meal #1 Shredded chicken enchiladas & spanish rice w/ chips & salsa (I always make my own salsa but this is a new one to try out!)
Meal #2 Slow cooker BBQ chicken sandwiches w/ baked potatoes
Meal #3 Penne w/ meat sauce, tossed salad and breadsticks
Meal #4 Pork chops w/ mushrooms & green beans
Meal #5 Stuffed peppers w/ garlic cheddar biscuits

Oatmeal chocolate chunk cookies - saw these on pinterest & MUST try!

Friday FAB finds!!

Homemade American Cheese?!?!

 Who doesn't love an ooey gooey grilled cheese?!

DIY Hand Lotion

really curious to try this out, my hands get super dry in the winter months!

 

 

Funny little thing to share!

photo via pinterest
SO true!!! Positive way to think about it!

Meet Dixie!

The newest member of the Barilla clan!

We have had a dog for what feels like forever...losing Molly was so hard, but we still had Heidi. Losing Heidi made the house empty & quiet! We were not really looking for a dog quite yet, but came across this sweet black & tan 8 week old hound dog who had been rescued. She melted our hearts and now here we are!

Weekly Menu!

Meal #1 Baked parmesan spagetti w/ tossed salad & fresh bread
Meal #2 Chili w/ honey corn bread
Meal #3 Chicken Parmesan w/ tossed salad & sinful bread
Meal #4 Deep dish pizza w/ zucchini fries

We have 1 meal leftover from last week so thats all for this week!

Chocolate Chip Cookies
granola

VOTE!!!

photo from foodnetwork.com

VOTE, for a Cazenovia local and sister of my friend!!!  Food Network is battling for the next Iron Chef!  Take a moment and vote for Anne Burrell!  The race is neck and neck right now so every vote counts!

CAST YOUR VOTE HERE!

Weekly Menu!

Meal #1 Pampered Chef Chicken Fajitas w/ spanish rice & chips w/ salsa (Dave's cousin Kim is visiting and swears by the PC stone baker for amazing fajitas in the microwave?!?)
Meal #2 Meatloaf w/ green beans and rolls
Meal #3 Olive Garden Salad & breadsticks
Meal #4 Crockpot Carne Asada tacos w/ chips & salsa
Meal #5 Ravioli Bake w/ tossed salad & fresh bread

Snacks & Treats
Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars
No bake cookies ( one of our favorites EVER!)

HAPPY Thanksgiving!

Hope your day was spent with the ones you love and you have an incredibly long list of things you are thankful for!  We had a beautiful day, gorgeous sunny weather which is amazing this time of year, a nice meal with Dave's family & its off to Black Friday shopping in a few hours!

I made these turkey shirts for the girls after seeing them on pinterest!

I changed them up a bit and used googly eye buttons I found & since there was no tutorial to follow just made it up as I went along. Used a snowman body as a guide and brown minky fabric for the body, the girls picked the ribbons. If I had it to do over I would have cut the ribbons shorter since they were pretty floppy but the girls were thrilled & considering I was finishing them this morning while cooking I was happy to finish them at all!

Here are my 2 cute little turkeys wearing them and soaking in the sunshine!

Weekly Menu!

Meal #1 White chicken enchiladas w/ spanish rice
Meal #2 Mac & Cheese w/ veggies & ranch & apple slices
Meal #3 Manicotti w/ tossed salad & italian bread w/ dipping oil
Meal #4 Croissant french toast w/ strawberry syrup & sausage patties

My contribution to Thanksgiving dinner w/ the Ramsden clan of 70+ ~ spinach/artichoke dip, caramel apple layer cake, rolls.

Friday FAB finds!

Repurposed altoid container

Covering a lampshade tutorial

I have a great antique lamp to try this on!

Donut tree

How fun is this for a kids party?

My little Sprout!

Emerson sat for a preschool photo! AMAZING in and of itself that she did it, bonus it came out pretty good {as good as you get with the cheese-mo background & flash photography!}

Entryway facelift!

Our entryway is a really large, really long space...makes it difficult to make it functional too!  So, remember back here when I refinished an old church pew so we would have more seating?  Well since that we have done nothing, nadda, zip to finish off that space! 

Its no secret I am seriously addicted to pinterest...well out of the 1000's of pins I have, I knew right away that 2 pins were meant for this entryway space! {Dave threatens to take away my internet on a daily basis now!}

This photo seen on pinterest.....

led me to find these plans on how to build the shelf instruct Dave on building the shelf! 

And this photo from pinterest

led me to this blog post & sign tutorial

Now, entryway before shot!

and here is the after shot!

Still more updates to come - like finally making a cushion, adding some cutsies to the shelf above, baskets underneath pew for hats & mittens, but I am thrilled so far!

We made a few adjustments to the shelf to make it larger and for the signs I just bought a piece of 1x8 lumber and had Dave cut them down to to 9" blocks,  I happened to have an old curtain rod, just gave it a quick blast of Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint to match the hooks. We used the basic thoughts behind the original ideas & just made them work for us! 

Weekly Menu!

Meal #1 Penne w/ italian sausage w/ tossed salad & breadsticks
Meal #2 Chicken & Dumplings w/ tossed salad
Meal #3 Goulash w/ cheddar garlic biscuits
Meal #4 BLT's w/ french fries
Meal #5 Burgers (toasted buns DO matter!), deviled eggs & pasta salad

Snacks & Treats
applesauce granola
mini cinnies
puppy chow (one of my fave snacks from high school days!)

Friday FAB finds!!

cardstock gift box

 this looks amazing!

Tip for painting perfect letters!

super handy tip, can't wait to try!

Oatmeal creme pies

WOW!

R.I.P Heidi

Today we had to put our dog Heidi to sleep, seems all too familiar since we just had to put our other dog Molly to sleep last May.  With Molly there was a lot of suffering and days at the vet's office.  Heidi was fine last night, ok this morning but then went downhill fast.  They said she had a tumor on her spleen that ruptured and caused internal bleeding.  She was a part of our family, before we were a family.  Molly & Heidi were truly our first kids before we were even married!  She had a rough start, being found as a puppy by a rescue agency in the desert with a broken leg, I am happy we gave her a much better & longer life than what she was headed for way back then.

The day she came home with us in AZ!

The move to NY! HUGE yard to play in.

Heidi Rooney we called her, no clue where we got that but it was her little nickname. She was lonely since Molly girl left and never quite the same I dont think. She was always a grouchy old girl but loveable and cuddly too, at least with me. We will miss her and I hope the 2 of them are playing together once again today.

 

                

playing in the leaves!

treats Christmas morning!

 

snoozing on Molly girl.

Hanging with Pop-O!

All decked out for Easter thanks to Savannah!

she LOVED being outside

For an AZ dog, she was in love with the NY snow!!