Snow Days

What better to do than prepare for a second Ice age! Funny story Esther and I went shopping last night and in the parking lot everyone was coming out with carts full of food in preparation for the upcoming 2nd snow storm. So I shouted loudly "We better Prepare for the Ice Age!!!!" (like the do-do birds say in the movie) everyone just looked over like I was some loony. Probably because I am! Ha ha

So really all you need for a snow storm is making sure you have a lot of popcorn on hand, games and some fun old time movies you haven't watched in a while. Daniel went to the thrift store and bought some movies for the kids and I. I was excited to see sound of music in the bunch. I love that movie!

 We have sooo enjoyed the snow! The kids found some time to get outdoors when it started snowing (the 1st storm) and we headed outdoors the beautiful Saturday we had to take a walk all the way over to Grandmas for some hot chocolate. Being cooped up makes us find a lot of creative things to do. The other night we popped some delicious popcorn and had competitions to see how many pieces of popcorn one could toss and make into the others mouth. We ended up  having a popcorn fight. You can always find stuff to do when there isn't much to do. :)

We also made some crafts together as a family. One was really fun. They are called yarn pom poms. You can do so many things with these for decorations or just tossing around with the kids for fun. You can find how to make a pom pom headband here.
For this next snow storm I plan to make lots more of these and have us as a family play "Trash the backyard" in our living room. If you have never played that game you make a netting (or hang up a sheet in between teams and divide the balls equal amounts between the 2 teams. On the cound of 3 you try to throw as many pom poms over the "net" as you can before the time runs out (while in the mean time they are throwing more over into your area) when time is up you count how many are on each teams side and whoever has the least wins!

Staying indoors has given Adonia and I time to focus a lot on her schoolwork. We were doing math today and decided to help her with counting and make an abacus. The ones online were around $15 so I thought I would get creative. We made one out of yarn, cheerios and candle stick holders. She loved it!

My smart little girl is doing so well in her school. She is a bright little thing! She loves to draw and color so I have been working with her in art. I give her a picture and have her try to copy it. She has been doing really well.

Snail




Daddy and Creed working on the dirtbike together in our dining room. Like father like son.






            

  I love it when my children play well together. And this week was one of those. They found so many fun things to make and do together. I love to see them have so much fun!













Since I have been thinking I am having a slightly small lupus flair I have gone back to a very strict diet. So I have been finding myself in the kitchen making up concoctions I can eat. Its been kinda a challenge. But for the best! Today I worked on making my own Salad Dressing. Turned out pretty good.

 And now to my find of the week! I hit the thrift store (well not literally) and found some amazing deals! One outfit I put together for under $5. The skirt was a high rise slimming black one that I love. It cost $2. It came with a top that was sewed in that I didn't like. So i cut that part off.  Now I am able to add any top to it. The blue knit wet seal top was 1/2 off for $1 and the outer jacket was also $1. I did not include the necklace, but that cost $3.

The skirt works wonderful to match with other tops for different looks. Here is another chic top I found for $2 at our local thrift shop. Works well with the skirt or dresses up a pair of jeans. :)















I hope you all have a very blessed day and stay safe and warm indoors from all the snow! Enjoy it while its here because spring is just around the corner!

Blessings!

Kitchen Makeover!!! All in a days work!

FINISHED: I loved the fun spring mints and salmon pinks!

  
So I wanted to share with you my kitchen makeover! It took only one afternoon and less than $20 in paint, frames, pictures, and a brush. It was lots of fun to do and I had been wanting to get my hands into it for a while. I managed to get a before picture (sometimes I get so excited to start the project that I forget to take a before)

BEFORE

My wedding bouquet!

A little place to leave messages for Daniel before he goes to work!

 I had old windows sitting in the basement from when we replaced ours. I wanted to add a fun pop to the cabinets, while still be able to leave them mostly white (i love the bright clean feel)

I got 97 cent frames from walmart. They came in black.

One of the colors I used was a fun pink I got in the sample paint for $2.98

Home Depot's sample paint only comes in flat finish. It works great for picture frames! A super easy project for a quiet afternoon. You can mix and match so many colors. I worked with about 4 different paint colors and came up with 6-7 different colors by mixing. :) A great way to add some fun color! And you can always easily switch up the color later.


Have fun!

Another excuse to celebrate!

 Wow! That is all I have to say when I experienced the weather earlier this week! I am now...seriously... just so excited for it to return for good! I have so been ready for spring that I have gotten way ahead of myself (and nature) and started going through the kids clothes to pull out shorts, flip flops etc when one nice day hits us...only to remind myself that we still have some cold days ahead. Darn. I have been doing some early spring cleaning which has been such a rejuvenating feeling! Cleaning, clearing out. A nice start to the year.

Among those projects we put in a new front door and I just finished painting it. Since I bought a gallon of really nice exterior paint and had quite a bit left over I ended up painting 5 more doors. So now all our exterior doors match. My neighbor thought I was going paint crazy when he left the his house mid morning, only to return home in the afternoon to find me painting the shed doors out back! ha ha

Just a tip for any of you who are wanting a simple face lift to your house. Painting your front door can be an easy quick way to add color and change to the look on your entry way. Doors can make a huge statement on your design style. And the costs can be less than $20.

If you aren't sure on a color they also offer $3 samples of paint in a little container that you can take home just to make sure you can figure out the right color. And then you can always use the leftover sample paint on other projects. And remember paint color swatches in the store can be a very different color when you take them home and compare them with the outdoor lighting near your door. So be sure to bring some home, and at the end of my post I will show you a quick way you can reuse your paint card samples.

I have so been enjoying the last few months going at a slower pace. I have been busy, but mostly been busy at home with my kids and digging back up my passion to find and cook delicious healthy meals for my family. I love variety!
  I have really had so much fun with my kiddos! As you know, I LOVE holidays! And love any chance I can get to celebrate and decorate for any occasion or holiday! And Valentines day is coming up. So the kids and I made valentines mailboxes.
We each made one and decorate it. They are now ready for next week when we plan to use them to put little surprises in each others throughout valentines day. And of course check our own mailboxes regularly. :) you can find the tutorial here: http://www.simplymodernmom.com/2010/01/special-delivery-paper-mailbox-tutorial-and-pattern/

My v-day decor I kept simple. But added a few pops of my favorite valentines day color. Hot pink! So up went a fun banner that I found last year, and a fun bouquet of pink flowers.  I  also made a little frame with a handwritten verse from 1st John 4:19 "We love because He first loved us" I thought it would be a great way to remind myself of what we want to ring clear and true as we celebrate valentines. We love because He is LOVE and He first loved us! And we all aren't that loveable at times. But we have Christ's example to love someone even when we don't get anything in return. I am so thankful for God's love in my life. Everyday!

 So now to my little mini project I came up with on one way to reuse color swatches from the paint store. They are all adorable colors and fun to put together. I am going to use a few for valentines cards. How to: Take 2 paint samples, staple together (colored sides facing out)  I then made a newspaper flowers that I glued to the top (you can find how to make them here: http://www.joybx.com/entry/17867.html. They are super cute for any other occasion as well. 

Blessings to you all! - Hannah Grace Winter