Weekend Project

A month ago, my hubby came home with a surprise for me!  After years of nagging me about my "side of the road finds", that I always end up loading into my car to sneak home. Then sanding & painting, to make it new and beautiful :)  He never ever can see my visions, but in the end loves everything I paint!

 

To my surprise, this is what he showed up with....

Apparently, he can see my visions... green wobbly legs, two purple chairs, and two black chairs.  He actually had faith, that I can make this worthy enough for our deck :)

 

 

It came out beautiful!
Thanks hubby!

Healthy Bites

Looking for a healthy yummy snack?  These energy bites are so addicting!  Packed with delicious ingredients, that don't make you feel guilty after popping one into your mouth :)

I found this recipe on Pinterest, which led me to Gimme Some Oven Blog. I'm loving this blog filled with recipe's galore!

Ingredients:

These delicious little no bake energy bites are the perfect healthy snack!

 

1 cup (dry) oatmeal (I used old-fashioned oats)

2/3 cup toasted coconut flakes

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup ground flaxseed or wheat germ

1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)

1/3 cup honey or maple syrup

1 Tbsp. chia seeds (optional)

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Stir all ingredients together in a medium bowl until thoroughly mixed. Let chill in the refrigerator for half an hour. Once chilled, roll into balls of whatever size you would like. (Mine were about 1" in diameter.) Store in an airtight container and keep refrigerated for up to 1 week.

Makes about 20-25 balls.

Check out Gimme Some Oven for more yummy recipes!

 

 

 

 

Bribing VS. Rewarding

We have been talking a lot about setting goals in our house, along with rewarding for good behavior.  Bribing VS. Rewarding.... something that is kind of the same?  It's easy to entice our children to behave how we want them to, in exchange for treats or activities.  Does bribery become an ongoing pattern to teach them to act out for what they want?  I think that generally a bribe is done under duress -right smack in the middle of a situation that your child has sprouted horns and a tail.  It happens so quickly, that all you want to do is change your child's behavior on the spot. So you offer something that you had no previous intention to offer.  Some people would say this would put your child in the driver seat.  However,  I think the use of the reward in this situation is compensating your child for good behavior, rather than being manipulated.  More often than not, I like to reward with activities rather than something tangible.   It's important to think of things that are of value in your child's world (video games, TV time, computer, park, movies, etc.).  We try to work towards earning the more valued things in our home -which unfortunately is usually technology.
I'm sure this is a topic which can be much debated by moms & dads.  We have been trying to teach goal setting in our house.  In life, it's important to set goals and it sure feels good when you reach them.  I came home the a couple months ago to something my hubby was working on with our son.

The Goal:
Harry Potter Lego.
To reach his goal, Brayden must earn 200 points.  Below are pictures of the point system.  I was very proud of my hubby -it's a very cute idea!  I know it was killing him to not give the Lego to Bray.  However, it was fun to watch him earn points. So, the whole idea is to "earn" points daily toward his goal -the Lego.  The ways he could earn the points were by helping out in the house -beyond his normal responsibilities, doing a acts of kindness, and good behavior. 

 

Yes, we have a basketball hoop in our kitchen & a motivational quote :) Doesn't everyone?

 



 

 

                        

 

Bonus Points!



 

  Let me tell you, he went ABOVE and BEYOND everyday trying to earn every last point!  It did get to a point that we had to cap off how many to earn in a day.... he was acting like my king, ready to serve me hand and foot!  Brayden had been begging for this Lego.  We do not allow electronics in our house to be used during the weekday... no Wii, Xbox, iPad, computer, NOTHING.  He spends a lot of time working on his Lego creations, and is always asking for new ones.  Kudos to daddy for the time and effort!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Out tradition as a family is a  Romantic Valentine's Day Family Dinner every year. This is something that Brayden get's so excited for! We usually celebrate with strawberry milk & sparkling cider, and pink mashed potatoes!  Thanks to Pinterest, this year I have been able to get lots of ideas for food and decorating :)

Here are some cute tablescapes ideas -from fellow bloggers!

So cute!

Definitely making these cute pizzas...

And Brayden will have some of these lunch ideas in his lunch box tomorrow...

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!



Goodbye 2012!

Spending the holidays with our family this year was amazing(like always!).  This is the time of year when I reflect, and it reinforces how lucky I am.  The wonderful support and love of our family is more that words can even express.  My husband and little guy are the rocks in my life and I feel so blessed!

This year has been a rough one... a lot of ups and downs.  I am happily closing the door on 2012, because I am a firm believer that when one door closes, another opens with bigger and better possibilities & triumphs!  Looking forward to opening the doors that 2013 has to offer us:)

We have been discussing our New Years Resolutions in our house the past few days.

Here are a few we came up with as a family:

1. Spend less time worrying what others think.

2. Have FAITH.

3. Say YES more often! (from my 7 year old!)

4.  Listen to that little voice.

5.  Do your best.

This year I am not choosing to eat healthier or even get to gym more, these are things we try to do every day.  A healthy lifestyle is what our family lives by anyway -most of the time!  Can we do better?  Absolutely! But for me it is a lifestyle and definitely will not be jumping on the "let's get healthy and exercise more", bandwagon!

Wishing you all a happy new year with all the best that 2013 can bring!!!

Christmas Is In The Air

It's that time of year! Christmas is in the air, the decorating has begun, and the crazy shopping is in full swing.

Look who we found hanging on our kitchen hoop this morning!

Our Elf, Gummy is here! He will be reporting back to Santa every night :) Brayden is very concerned about Santa's naughty list, and Gummy usually keeps him on his toes with his behavior.

Holiday crafting, my favorite thing to do this time of year! Some people bake. I cannot bake :( I do try. In fact I'm pretty sure in the next couple weeks something will catch my eye, I will get excited, purchase all of the ingredients and packaging -it will be an epic FAIL! I'm not sure why, but baking is not friend. I NEVER succeed. I envy the moms who bake the most amazing "themed" birthday cakes for their kids. I really wish I could! Instead, I can craft....

I have been seeing some cute cake stands on Pinterest, and have been wanting to try them out.

Supplies:
Christmas themed plates.
Liquid nails.
Glass candle stick holder.

These were so fun, and literally took 5 minutes! Well 5 minutes to apply everything, then you let it dry overnight. I'm sure after a couple hours it was ready, but I just left it alone until the morning.
I completed a couple more tonight...

Happy crafting!

Pumpkin Crafts

Felt Pumpkins!

I found this blog Clean & Scentsible on Pinterest. Not only am I excited to follow Jenn's blog, I can't wait to make these felt pumpkins!

Burlap Pumpkins!

A Life Reclaimed has an adorable Esty Shop.

We recently glued burlap to 150 candles for a bride.  I never thought I would want to work with burlap again, because it's so hairy & messy!  But I have so much left over, and burlap is so pretty -now I have a reason to use it!

Beautiful!

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These are absolutely beautiful & SO my style!

A beautiful tablescape!

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SUPER EASY & GORGEOUS! Simpley paint pumpkins, add some grape vine.  I love the colors that she used, creamy white & blues are so pretty with orange accents.

LOVE THIS!

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Get your acrylics, spray paint, stencils, and jewels!  How fun is this?

It's so fun to decorate in the Fall :)  Our house has been filled with Pumpkin & Apple scents.  Lots of candle orders being processed -my favorite time of year for our business.  Now just to get all of our decorations out, and the pumpkin crafts started!