New Dining Room Buffet and Bulletin Board.

I know I promised an update on our kitchen remodel, but that blog is going to take a lot of time to write, and I just haven't gotten around to it, yet. I have started it... so, maybe soon. I am LOVING my kitchen remodel, though and can't wait to share it!

My MIL was in town earlier this month, so that has contributed a bit to my delays in blogging, but we've just been busy around here. Landon and I just wrapped up our first year of homeschooling! (First Grade) I can't believe how fast that went. The first thing he said when he realized we were done was, "When can I start second grade work?!" He is definitely my kid! He was also very sad when we finished our solar system studies. I wasn't planning on starting school back up until August, (besides a few fun games and science projects here and there) But, I may have to start sooner than I planned. He just can't wait and is asking me daily if he can start his new work! I love his enthusiasm!

Well, anyway, back to the point of this post. I have been looking for MONTHS for the RIGHT dresser to use as a buffet in my dining room and I finally found one! 

I found this dresser at the Salvation Army and it weighs a TON! Oh boy, I bet the neighbors were laughing at my husband and I while we tried getting this beast out of the van, across the driveway, up two steps, and through the front door! 

 I decided to sand the top and restain it.  I choose a light sage like color because my curtains are a sage. I also spray painted all of the hardware.

At the time of these pictures, I didn't have knobs for the doors. The original ones were broken off so I was looking for replacements, when my SIL mentioned using ribbon or something.

This is my dining room, now (Excuse the cell phone picture, please) I used some doubled up twine and knotted it in the back.

I really love this buffet and it has a ton of storage. It's still mostly empty. So far all I have in it is place mats and coloring stuff for the kids. But, I am sure it'll be filled up soon enough!

The bulletin board on top of the buffet will have pictures on it, soon. Hung up with mini cloth pins. I just haven't gotten to it, yet, as I just finished it. 

 I took an old frame apart that I bought a few years ago at a thrift store, and painted the frame black. I also decided to add a "B" for our last name. After that I took the old cardboard backing and covered it in burlap fabric and randomly placed twine strings across the surface. I stapled them on the back. With a regular stapler, and then I hot glued them once I was done with it all. Just to make sure. Pushed the cardboard back in and put two nails in place to hold the backing in. I then added picture hooks to the top. Very easy day project that I love!

"Almond Joy" Bars! (Clean, No Sugar Added!)

I started my day with a delicious bowl of Almond Joy inspired oatmeal, which totally hit my chocolate craving spot. 

After lunch, while my daughter was napping I had planned to throw some kind of granola bars together. I knew I was going to use oats (duh) and bananas because I have plenty that are pretty ripe. And since the coconut was still out on the counter (oops) I just threw everything together!

Ingredients:

2- Cups Oats

1- Cup unsweetened Coconut

1- 1/2 tsp Unsweetened Cocoa 

(I actually did not measure the cocoa, but it's bitter so don't add too much)

2 Large Ripe Bananas

1/3 Cup Coconut Milk (or milk of choice)

1-1/2 TBS Pure Vanilla Extract

Optional: Almonds, Chocolate Chips

(If needed, add a little pure maple syrup to your mixture.)

Feel free to mix in anything you'd like. I added my almonds on top, but you could mix them in. Or added chocolate chips in, as well. I only laid mine on top with the almonds.

Directions:

Mash up your bananas then mix everything together. If you want your mix-ins on top then wait until later. Prepare your baking sheet or pan. I used parchment paper that I lightly greased. I shaped my mixture into a square and flattened with a fork. I then neatly laid my almonds and chips on top. 

Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes and then cut up. I am storing mine in a container in the fridge.

He was in awe and couldn't wait to dive in. ;)

If you're not already a follower, please feel free to become one! And as always, I'd love to hear if you try these and what you think! Have a great day!

Emmelyn is Now Two!

A lot has happened in the past month. We have been super busy, so I have been slacking in the blog world, I apologize for that. 

On April 9th, Emmelyn turned two years old! Hard to believe, but it has come and gone already! 

She had a great birthday party on the 6th with a few friends. I tried really hard to make the menu for her party clean, and I succeeded in doing so... except for the PBJ sandwiches. Even her cake! That was the hardest part... I made three test cakes in the month leading up to her birthday before deciding on my  banana muffin recipe baked as a cake. I made a strawberry cream cheese frosting for it, and called it a day. My family loved it! Especially the birthday girl, who loves bananas and strawberries! 

The Cake!

Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting:

Three blocks of soften cream cheese

1 cup of fresh strawberries, cleaned and stems removed

Pure maple syrup, to taste

Blend up your strawberries then add your cream cheese and maple syrup in. I added the syrup in a TBS at a time until I liked the taste and consistency of the frosting. I probably used about 3 TBS. It may will depend on your strawberries and their tartness.

I forgot to take a picture of the food set up... Oops! But the menu consisted of:

(All I can remember off the top of my head)

Peanut butter and Jelly sandwiches for the kids

Chili

Veggie tray
Salsa roll-ups

Fruit Kabobs (huge hit!)

Tortilla chips

Hummus

Guacamole

No Bake PB Chocolate Balls

Homemade Strawberry Lemonade 

 (What was left of the lemonade)

When Emmelyn woke up in the morning she was thrilled to see all of the balloons!

For the party, I set up a wall for a fun "photo booth," and it was so much fun! All of our guests seemed to enjoy this part and it really fit in with her "dress up party" theme. I had a lot of costumes and such out for the kids to wear, but we also had a playset and bounce house in the back yard and it was such a beautiful day out, no one was inside much. 

 A great start to her party. ;)

 Probably my favorite.

                Sometimes one fork isn't enough!                 Working on her second piece of cake.

Here is a close up of her hairband for anyone interested. I made this a week or so before her party! I love it!

Since her birthday fell on a Tuesday, we celebrated on Saturday. On Monday, we explored the National Harbor in D.C., including the Children's Museum for their 1/2 price Military day. They had a real pig's lung on display for us to touch and play with, what a great surprise! We took a picnic lunch with us and ate it on the Harbor. Afterwards, we found Ben & Jerry's and the four of us shared a banana split! Sometimes you just have to indulge a little.

On Tuesday, we went to the National Zoo in D.C., we were pretty rushed though and didn't get to see the whole thing because Emmelyn had a well baby check up. But, we still had a great time! 

All-in-all it was a great birthday week for my angel bug! 

(My birthday banner letters came from here. I just cut out triangles to place behind the letters and used brads to hold them together)

Stay tuned, we have been refinishing our kitchen (why we've been so busy) and I will be writing a blog post about that, soon!

DIY Growth Chart!

Well, I finally did it! I finally got around to making a growth chart. I've only been meaning to since before my daughter was born. Probably even conceived. Oh well, better than never. It's a good thing I've stayed on top of both of their baby books, so that I can easily fill in the growth chart! 

The best part about this project... it was 100% free! The previous owners of our house had left some wood in the shed, so I didn't need to buy any! And I just used paint and stain we had on hand.

 Plain old boring 6' board that has been sanded. I stained my board and let it dry. While it dried, I printed out my numbers and carefully cut them out so that I could trace them.

I carefully marked out the foot marks and then the inches and hand painted them on in white and grey.

As my marks dried I worked on tracing the numbers along the foot marks and then filled them in with a blue paint.

I am considering adding my children's hand prints to it. It was in my initial plans, but my daughter was napping when this was finished and I wanted to hang it up and see the finished look!

Spinach Frittata

We love breakfast around here, but sometimes it starts to get old, the same stuff over and over. I made our normal spinach and eggs into a frittata a couple of weeks ago and it was really good!

Ingredients:

9 eggs

Turkey Ham

Spinach

Onions

Cheese (optional)

Olive Oil

Seasonings of choice

Directions:

I sauteed my onions and spinach together in a little olive oil. Chopped up the turkey ham and added it all to a pie pan.  Then mix your eggs up and pour it over the top of the spinach mixture. Add cheese on top if you'd like. Bake at 350, until done. I believe it was 30-40 minutes.

And there you have it, a different way to make your same old breakfast! My family of four had plenty of leftovers and it holds up pretty well the next day.