XOXOXO

I hope you had a great Valentine's Day!
We sure did, but then again, every day is filled with
L-O-V-E
around here!

Here's a sneak peek...

So I have been pinning left and right these GREAT ideas for cute, DIY Valentines for Reese to hand out at school. We took a little trip to Wal-Mart to get the supplies I needed to make them. Well, of course, the Valentine section is hard to miss. We ended up walking through and this is the face I saw as she spotted Rapunzel Valentine's...

(I had her reenact the 'face')

Could you say "No." ?

Well, I didn't. The thing she wanted most only cost $2.47. My supplies were going to be 3 x that!

Sometimes, even though you have great ideas, it's better to go the easy route!

Valentine's Day Morning...

She was busting at the seems to give me my Valentine.

A metal heart hook.

How adorable, right??

My husband has an uncle that has a forging hobby. She saw a picture WEEKS ago of a heart, that he had made, and asked if he would make one for her (to give to ME)!

PRECIOUS! And to think she kept that secret all this time!!!

Breakfast with the Little Love....

Heart toast and bananas.

And lunch...

 HEART PB&J.

We spent the afternoon playing and crafting with some friends.

We made Valentine Bookmarks out of paint samples.

Valentine Dinner....

Chicken Bruschetta Skillet

And we finished off dinner with dessert.

Chocolate Cake (of course)

Then PRESENTS!

 And from my first LOVE....

(He's so sweet to me.)

XOXOXO

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Mini Spring-Clean Week #3

Okay, the first Spring Clean project was in the kitchen this week.

Small change here, but sometimes the baby steps make you feel just as organized as the big steps!

My Mom's Jelly Cabinet

(a.k.a. my cookbook cabinet)

It's kinda sad that I need an entire cabinet to keep cookbooks. 

I really tried to thin them down some, but it was difficult. (Key word tried.) 

Before

After

Any suggestions for all of those old Taste of Home magazines? 

On my to-do list (when it's warmer outside) is to paint this cabinet!

The second cleaning project this week was in our bathroom....

During

(My usual: yank it all out, wipe it all down, purge the un-needed and replace what you need and use.)

My hubby was excited he got his 'own' drawer!

(I purged extra of my 'junk' to make it happen.) 

I also put all of our things (in our individual drawers) into baskets. When you are getting ready, just pull the basket to the counter and then when you are finished, it's easy to just have to put one thing back in the drawer- the basket!

Okay, okay.... I needed two baskets in my drawer.

Then the top, shared drawer...

Our night-time regiment of things.

(And yes, we brush our teeth more often than just at night.)

This picture reminds me of an argument many years ago...

If you have a little argument in your marriage,

remember it's not worth it and you can always find a solution!!!!!

Here is a picture of one of our solutions....

Did you notice?

TWO separate toothpaste tubes. Both squeezed, COMPLETELY different.

This solved one of our early frustrations when we were first married. 

We have been happily not sharing toothpaste, in the same drawer, for almost 8 years!

Okay, back to cleaning :)

Under one sink:

Feminine products (in drawers), trash can and cleaning supplies for the bathroom.

And under the other sink:

A basket of my hair 'stuff' and our towels.

(Yes, I have more than 2 towels. The others were pre-occupied in the dryer when I took this picture!)

And behind the basket of hair 'stuff', containers that I don't need everyday.

Cotton balls and nail polishes.

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February 12, 1983

February 12, 1983...

The 'Blizzard of 1983' was dropping tons of snow.

A young couple was anxiously awaiting the arrival of their first child. 

The soon-to-be-mothers' water broke in the middle of the night and excitedly 

told the soon-to-be-father, "It's time."

Their car (a white, 2-door 1972 Volkswagen Bug) was stuck 

in the snow outside of their quiet little home. 

The panicked soon-to-be-father ran inside to call for an ambulance. 

They arrived safely at the hospital and at 11:56 pm, 

the new parents welcomed a healthy baby girl.

(Me)

Although today is my birthday, and year after year, I am showered with love, gifts and family, I want to say a special

Thank You

to the parents that brought me into this world (and who sometimes threatened to take me out), parents who raised me with love and forgiveness and parents who continue to be the best parents that that little baby girl could have ever hoped for 29 years ago.

I love you Mom and Dad!

-Daughter

Now I should say, "Let the celebration begin!", but it already has!

It starts every year when I get my free Starbucks drink card in the mail.

:)

You can order ANYTHING you want. My choice this year? A venti decaf white-chocolate mocha.

(Love is right)

Speaking of LOVE, here's mine on my 'Birthday Dinner Date'.

My restaurant of choice... a Japanese Bistro.

I also got to pick what I wanted to do.

That was a no-brainer. The older I get, the more I love to shop!!!!

A mini shopping spree to buy new lamps and bedside tables for my bedroom re-do.

(Don't worry, MUCH more coming about that!)

And the babysitters (a.k.a. Nana and Pa) even left Krispy Kreme after babysitting!

The way "29" has started already, I can tell this is going to be a great year!

Praising the Lord that he has allowed me another birthday and I feel so blessed for my family and friends to help celebrate!

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Frame Update

I wanted to add a 'little somethin' to my plain black frame.

Enter teal paint.

Brush on (with washcloth)

Wipe off (with paper towel)

End result- teal in the creases. 

I love the rustic look this frame now has!

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Mini Spring-Clean Week #2

I did a few more things, of my usual 'Spring Cleaning', to help myself out the week of the actual 'Spring Cleaning'.

Here's what I did:

Upper Cabinets Re-Organize

The first upper cabinet is where I store my cake decorating accessories. I also keep my party paper products up there. All things that I don't use on a daily, or even weekly, basis.

Before (It always looks worse when you document it with a picture!)

After

Top Shelf: Paper plates and napkin

Middle Shelf: Cupcake tree, icing tips and other decorating tools, sprinkles, food colorings

Bottom: Disposable cups, cake carrier, cake turn table and cupcake liners

Another great idea I saw on Pinterest...

Putting your cupcake liners in clear containers so they are stored and organized. I purchased the plastic-handled containers at Target in the dollar section.

My mini cupcake liners fit in a canning jar I had on hand.

I put them all on my no-slip cake turn table so I can easily spin it around to see all my liners.

The second upper cabinet wasn't a huge cleaning deal, but I wiped it out and re-organized a little...

Before:

After:

Kitchen Table Area

I purchased a new rug for under our kitchen table.

Here are my steps for cleaning in preparation for the new rug...

1. Remove table, chairs and old rug

2. Sweep and scrub floor under the old rug

3. Wipe table and chairs down

4. Place new rug in it's spot

5. Replace table - Hit your head on the light fixture as you are putting the table back, see dust fly and then clean the light fixture.

6. Get a big sheet and have a 'reading tent' before bedtime. 

7. Put chairs back

8. See if you can go a week without anyone spilling something on your new rug! ;)

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A Very Happy Birthday

Today marks the birthday of someone that is very special to me.
My Mom.

This picture describes it best of how we feel about 'Gramma' around here.

(This was Reese when she was 2.)

Some of my favorite things that I have inherited from my mom are:
1. Her love for babies
2. Her love for organization and craftiness.
3. Her desire to give to others.
4. Her brown eyes.


I hope that I am as good of a mom to my kids as she is to me!

Mom,
Thanks for spending your birthday, 29 years ago, so very pregnant as you anxiously awaited the arrival of me. Thank you for showing me love, honesty, and how to clean.
I love you.
I hope that you have a terrific birthday! You certainly deserve it!
Love, Lins

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Chocolate Covered Strawberries

A sweet, easy treat for anyone, anytime of the year. Especially Valentine's Day!

These strawberries are smothered with a dark coating of love.

 Follow these simple instructions below and you will be will sure to have a crowd favorite!

Here's What You'll Need:

12 Strawberries

1 cup of semi sweet chocolate chips

1 Tb shortening

White chocolate chips + more shortening (optional for decorative drizzle)

Here's How:

1. Rinse your strawberries and lay them out on a kitchen towel.

You'll want the strawberries completely dry before dipping. I let mine air dry for 1-2 hours.

2. Pick your chocolate!

This last time I made them, I did 12 strawberries covered in semi-sweet chocolate and I did another 12 using sugar-free chocolate.

3. Add 1 cup of your preferred chocolate and 1 Tb of shortening to a double-boiler with simmering water. If you do not have a double boiler, simply use a glass bowl over a pot of simmering water.

Make sure your double boiler or glass bowl is not touching the water and you'll want to keep stirring to avoid burning your chocolate.

4. When your chocolate is melted, removed the pan from the heat.

Stir well to smooth the clumps and start dipping!

(Drip off as much as patience allows!)

5. Place the dipped strawberries on wax paper on a cookie sheet.

6. (This step is optional. I did not do this step for my sugar-free strawberries because I couldn't find sugar-free white chocolate chips.)

Melt a small amount of white chocolate chips the same way you melted the chocolate.

(Make sure you clean out your double boiler well before melting.)

7. Dip the end of a knife into the white chocolate and drizzle over your chocolate covered berries.

(It helps if you line your strawberries up like I did after the initial dipping.)

Refrigerate until hardened.

8. Display, serve and ENJOY!

I actually made these two batches for an auction at my daughter's school.

I decided to lay them in Valentine cupcake liners and place those in red tissue-filled foil pans.

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