Feeling Springy

Spring is in the air and has been cheerfully popping up in the corners of home since.

 

Here's a garland I made using paper doilies I purchased for a V-Day craft I didn't get around to using up. I cut my flowers using a die cutter and pasted two to each doily. A good friend let me borrow her Cricut and that's what I used to cut the word spring with. (I'm hooked! I'm in trouble!)

 

 

 We planted dwarf Sunflowers with the kids, they're such happy flowers I hope they grow. We're also trying Feverfew which I'm excited about. I came across it for the first time at our farmers market last summer and simply fell in love, they smell just like honey.

Strawberry lemonade anyone? :)

 

A pretty tree I spotted in the park

 

 

Here's to many...

 

 blessings!

Baklava Muffins

These are amazing! They remind me slightly of a coffee cake muffin recipe I have, only better! Try them, love them, then bake them again and give them to someone you love! (Or double the recipe because you won't want to share the first batch, there's only 12!) 

 

My only suggestion would be to change the 1/2 cup of honey the recipe calls for to 1/4 cup or a little less, but that's just my personal preference. If you're familiar with Nigella Lawson's recipes you'll know she isn't at all shy about her indulgent use of rich ingredients. Which is funny because it's what typically draws me into a recipe yet I find those ingredients butter, sugar, etc. can be easily substituted or modified to taste. They are still a decadent treat even with the reduced amount of sticky sweetness drizzled on top, plus I don't feel as bad when my kids both eat two in a sitting:) 

 

 

 

 Baklava Muffins

slightly adapted

from the cookbook 

How To Be A Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson

 

 

For the Muffin Filling:

1/2 cup walnuts

1/3 cup of sugar

1 3/4 teaspoons cinnamon

 ( I always add extra cinnamon. This is where I'd like to get creative adding a mix of nutmeg, apple pie spice or pumpkin pie spice. I think a spiced glaze would work really well with this muffin in place of the honey too.)

3 tablespoons butter, melted

 

 

 For the Muffins:

1 cup plus 7 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 cup of sugar

1 egg

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1 cup plus 1 tablespoon milk plus 1 tablespoon lemon juice (Let mixture sit in measuring cup for 2 minutes and you'll have buttermilk, it's something I don't normally have on hand but milk and lemons I do, this recipe always works for me)

http://joythebaker.com/2009/10/the-best-buttermilk-substitutions/

 

 

For the Topping:

1/4 cup honey

 

Directions:

1. Line a 12 cup muffin tin with cupcake liners.

2. Mix your filling ingredients together in a small bowl.

3 In a large mixing bowl combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and sugar, whisk ingredients together.

4. Whisk egg, melted butter and buttermilk together in a small bowl or a wide mouth measuring cup.

5. Make a well in dry ingredients and gently combine your egg mixture mixing lightly. Batter should be more on the lumpy side.

6.  Fill each liner with 1/3 cup muffin batter then add about 1 tablespoon of filling and cover with more muffin batter until muffin cups are two thirds full.

7. Bake about 15 minutes or until golden brown, remove muffins from pan and place on a cooling rack and drizzle with desired about of honey, Enjoy!  

 

Here's a link to her delightful website

 http://www.nigella.com/books/view/how-to-be-a-domestic-goddess-12

 

 

 

A reminder I need for myself from time to time

find your free printable download linked here below

 

 

http://www.sweetcoconutlime.com/search/label/freebie

 

Bits of Pretty

   With my due date approaching in March I'm really excited to be welcoming our newest little girl Vivienne into our family! Feeling constantly scatter brained, unable to focus or hold a thought, I'll leave you with just bits of pretty I've been working on.  

 

 

 

 

 

Lily loves craft projects of any kind, she is so fun to sit beside and create with. We made fun tissue paper stained glass hearts a couple weeks ago.
http://www.marinmommies.com/valentines-day-tissue-paper-suncatchers  

 

 My ruffled felt heart wreath for V-Day, I figured I could hang it in the girls room somewhere when the holiday was over.

I planted a few Primroses in pots around the house because I needed to see something blooming. This spring I want to try to grow Cosmos or some kind of pretty wild flowers from seeds, I've never tried it before so wish me luck.

 

 

We made silhouettes of our kids at our moms group a while back, I love how timeless they look. Here's where I found the tutorial to share with our group.

http://scissorsandspatulas.com/2011/05/framed-hanging-silhouette-plaques.html

 

 

 

Jingle bells and Pearls

 I made Lily and I matching glittered jingle bell and pearl bracelets. A trip to the craft store and a few supplies later I was able to make some fun and festive holiday jewelry.

Here's what you'll need:
Spray adhesive
Glitter
Pearls
Jingle bells
14 gauge jewelry wire
Scotch tape(tape off the end of your jewelry wire to sting your pearls to keep them from sliding off)
Crimp beads (2 per bracelet)
Lobster claw (1 per bracelet)
Jump rings (these are what the jingle bells dangle from in the pictures shown below with them clustered in threes. You will also need a larger jump ring to end your bracelet with.
Jewelry pliers(flat nose pliers are helpful for smashing the crimp beads closed, I used round nose and flat head for this project)

 I hope these pictures are helpful for those inspired to create their own. I don't have pictures of the glittering process which was very easy, I just sprayed, glittered,

 allowed about a minute to dry, turned them and repeated the steps until I was satisfied with how they looked. I used a clear coat sealant spray we had in the garage to help ensure that the glitter would stay on the jingle bells.

Pictured below are two small packages of crimp beads, small jump rings, a large jump ring, a lobster claw, jewelry wire, round nose pliers and flat noses pliers.

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

                                             Happy Crafting and Merry Christmas!

How sweet it is to be loved by you...

 

              What's not to love about the beautiful colors of fall?

 

  I love trying to bring all those toasty warm colors indoors as much as I can.

 

Here's a little project I made, my first yarn wrapped wreath and honestly I thought it was a pain in the butt to make. All that wrapping and wrapping, I was board of it a quarter of the way through, so I worked on it in half hour increments, it probably took me a good three hours to make. Not bad considering the fact that I love it, the simplicity of it speaks right to my heart. I even plan on making one for Lily's room.

 

 Oh Pinterest, let me count the ways I love thee. Pumpkin crumb cake is one, salted caramel sauce, apple chips, Fontina and chive risotto cakes, yarn wreaths, dangly fabric covered button earrings, I could go on!

One of my favorite recipes to make during the fall and winter months is the Pioneer Woman's pot roast. I love that it takes me a whole five minutes to chop and sear everything throw it all together in the Dutch oven then forget about it for 3 to 3 1/2 hours though my nose won't let me, serve with red mashed potatoes and there are a few very happy faces around the table.

   

 

 I like going on walks through the parks this time of year, taking the kids with me to experience all the new sights and smells of the season. Well really it's more for me I'm sure, I can hear Shane say to himself " Um yeah Mom, cool leaf?" "There's a good climbing tree over there and it's calling my name and I can't wait to try to catch another lizard!" It's a great place to get some free decorating supplies too, we collected a variety of different colored leaves and a small bag of acorns. I used a few for my wreath, had enough to fill the bottom of a large glass hurricane, nestled a yummy scented candle in the center and we made a little leaf garland.

 

 

 

He is growing so fast I just want to remember him like this forever...stop growing, stop!  

 Her Daddy took this picture, didn't he capture her perfectly?

 
 
 

 

 Thanksgiving

 We had our family, friends and enjoyed a beautiful meal together.

While my mind felt preoccupied by the to-do list that day my heart felt full, thankful for the many blessings in my life.  

  Thankful for my husband, how Lily adores him like all little girls should their daddy, how she runs to him, jumps in his arms and hugs his neck tight! How Shane looks up to him so much and loves spending time with him. How he knows when there are no words that need to be said but all I need is to have him near, he knows my heart and I love his.

 

How sweet it is to loved by you

 

I close my eyes at night

Wondering where would I be without you in my life

Everything I did was a bore

Everywhere I went it seems I'd been there before

But you brighten up for me all of my days

With a love so sweet in so many ways

I want to stop and thank you baby

I just want to stop and thank you baby

 

I was trying to think of a title for this post and this tune popped into my head. I looked up the lyrics and they seemed to fit perfectly.

 Thank you God.

  Thank you honey.

 

 

I know I've been terrible at updating but wanted to share this picture of Lily in her Halloween costume. I attempted to make her a pumpkin pie with a whipped cream topping headband. Her face makes me smile:)

 

Have a good day friends hope to be back soon! 

 

 

Playing at the lake

 This was our first camping trip as a family of four together and I took a bazillion pictures, here are some of my favorites. 

Shane kept saying the whole ride there, "I think this is going to be better than Disneyland!" He was so excited to go fishing, swimming and to do s'mores, of course.

My little rock collector. We'd walk this short trail from the cabin to the water 

 she was determined to see how many rocks she could carry back up the hill 

just a few more, c'mon thumb work with me

ehhh the heck with it!

At home we always use the gas grill, but I loved tasting the smokey flavor from the charcoal, we need to do this more!

We ate s'mores every night:)

Had some nice quite time with the Mr. before the kids woke up. It was so perfect and peaceful exactly what this mama needed!

Growing up I never really cared for camping that much, I can say I truly appreciate it now. Even though some of you might argue that bringing your flat iron, lipstick and cardigans with you is not really camping. (I can't help it, it's my mother's southern priss showin'). We enjoyed our time being close to nature and to each other, and hopefully setting a new tradition in place with many more memories to come.     

I love this one! 

Sweetness

Maddie chasing the ducks, they were teasing her, it was pretty funny to watch. We kept a good eye on her to make sure she didn't get too close to them. 

The girls hangin'

He was making her do the best belly laugh 

 one pooped baby

The boys building a moat 

Ahhh not a bad view to wake up to

I helped prep some meals, Shane did most of the cooking (okay... all), he is the Breakfast and Bar- B-Q master! My man has skillz!

This was his cabin french toast, he surprises me, we didn't have any vanilla so he used my french vanilla coffee creamer and I couldn't tell the difference.Way to improvise babe! 

We explored different areas of the lake, the weather was beautiful, packed snacks and took Maddie everywhere we went.  

Bubba won't you try my lipstick it's my favorite color? Shane "ewww no way!!!"

Dad gave Lily a little dip to rinse off all the dirt and sand stuck to her legs

Okay mom, one picture but then I'm getting in the water!

Captain Lillian

cold and tired kiddos

He caught three fish that day! Released two, dad barbecued the other, (shhh ...Shane and I didn't like it) poor fishy.

 Roasting hot dogs with sticks Shane collected just a ways from where we were fishing

Hmmm... yep look closely at the chocolate and you'll find evidence of Lily! 

Ooey gooey goodness!

A beautiful sunset 

So very thankful for a wonderful and refreshing time with the ones I love.