Do You Hear That?

Do you hear that? It's the sound of angels singing Hallelujah! At least that's what I heard when I was at Costco this morning. Here is how this angelic song came about.

I was walking through Costco with my littlest chick, waiting for her prescription to be filled. (Poor little chick has Conjunctivitis in both eyes and a double ear infection.) I was stressing a little because meatloaf was on the menu for dinner tonight but I hadn't sweet talked my Tall Man into chopping onions for me. I very STRONGLY DISLIKE chopping onions. So I was actually considering leaving the onions out when a friend of mine text me and asked if I needed help with anything while the little one isn't feeling well, sweet right? I thought so. Anyway, I told her she could come to my house and chop onions for me. She knows how much I despise this task, she's actually chopped onions for me before. Instead of putting her work day on hold and rushing to my rescue she decided to rescue me remotely. She sent a simple text saying "You could buy the dried ones."

WHAT!?!?! Dried onions?!?! I didn't know these existed. You may be thinking "DUH!!" and that's okay, I won't hold it against you.

I was honestly surprised. I had no idea you could buy dried, chopped onion and they sold them where I was at. Which is kind of like a double rescue, I didn't have to make another stop. Woo hoo! This is where the angels started singing and that beautiful golden light shined behind this bottle.

Okay. That's all I've got. I just wanted to share my good news with you. I will never chop another onion again!!

Blessings.

Ikea Trip

I hope you all had a very happy Easter with the ones you love. My family and I had a great time with my Tall Man's family. They are such an awesome group of people, it's always a good time.

Before all the family festivities we took off for a couple hours to Ikea and did a little shopping. Our little chicks went into the free play land they offer and the Tall Man and I cruised the store for about an hour. It was the perfect amount of time. I could have wandered all day but didn't want to lose my whole day to Ikea. So it was nice to have a time limit enforced by someone else.

So here is what I picked up...

A couple JAMKA food storage containers.

A couple 365+ food storage containers.

A five pack of FLYT magazine files. I have a project in mind for these.

And of course I couldn't leave without these Sockerart vases/pitchers. One in each size, thank you.

Please forgive the bad lighting, I was so excited to snap these pictures I couldn't wait for good, natural lighting.

We did get one other thing. A couple packs of natural wood hangers for the Tall Man. Apparently he was excited too, I didn't even see them downstairs. They were upstairs and into our closet before I realized he had even unpacked them.

While at Ikea we did a little couch testing. I think we've decided on the Ektorp corner sofa.

We both plopped down, sat on it, laid on it, got up off of it and decided it would be great in our living room. I really like the lighter color but Tall Man thought a darker shade would be better. So I think when it's time we may have to get two slipcovers. Or maybe buy the sofa in the Idemo light brown and get a Svanby beige slipcover. I guess, lucky for me I can't buy a sofa right now so it's not a decision that has to be made today. Whew.

I'm sure I'll be back in the next few days to show you what I've done with my little Ikea finds. So excited to get to work!!

Blessings.

He Has Risen!

"You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here."

Mark 16:6

Happy Easter Friends!

Blessings.

Easter Traditions

On Tuesday mornings I attend something called W.I.S.H. at our church. It stands for Women Intentionally Seeking Him, great, right? I am reading Grace Based Parenting by Dr. Tim Kimmeland a friend of mine is leading the class to go along with it. In class this week we were talking about Easter Traditions that teach the REAL meaning of this Resurrection Sunday.

The first one she mentioned was Resurrection Eggs.

Have you heard of these? This is something we do in our family and love it! I'll give you instructions on how to make the eggs in just a moment but first I want to say we still have a little fun with Resurrection Eggs. They're included in our Easter egg hunt and our girls know if they find an egg with a number on it they have a special egg. Once we're done with our egg hunt we sit down as a family and ask our little chicks to pull out all their numbered eggs and starting with egg number 1 we go through the story from the last supper through the resurrection.

If you're intrigued by what I've already told you, you have a couple options. You can run to a local Christian book and supply store and pay about $15 for Resurrection eggs or you can make your own for little to no money. When I made ours, I spent no extra money, we had everything on hand.

Now for what you'll need.

• 12 plastic eggs
• egg carton
• Sharpie marker, Chalk pen or vinyl numbers
• 11 items {listed below} to go in eggs along with scripture

In each egg you'll place a special item and you can either include a small piece of paper with the scripture written on it or have a list of the scripture that you can refer to. We include the scripture in the egg because two of our three little chicks can read and I think get more from it if they actually see the reference for themselves. Now for what you'll find in each egg.

1. A small piece of bread & Matthew 26:26.

While they were eating Jesus took a piece of bread, gave a prayer of thanks, broke it, and gave it to His disciples. "Take it and eat it," He said, "This is My body."

2. Silver coins & Matthew 26: 14-15

Then one of the twelve disciples, name Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and asked, "What will you give me if I betray Jesus to you?" They counted out thirty silver coins and gave them to him.

3. Purple cloth {representing a purple robe} & Mark 15:17

They put a purple robe on Jesus...

4. Thorns {we used cloves} & Matthew 27:29

Then they made a crown out of thorny branches and placed it on His head, and put a stick on His right hand; then they knelt before Him and made fun of Him. "Long live the King, of the Jews!" they said.

5. Scourge {a small piece of rope or thick string} &Mark 15:15

Pilate wanted to please the crowd, so he set Barabbas free for them. Then he had Jesus whipped and handed Him over to be crucified.

6. A small cross & John 19:17-18a

He went out, carrying His cross, and came to "The Place of the Skull," as it is called. (In Hebrew it is called "Galgotha.") There they crucified Him.

7. Nails & John 20:25b

Thomas said to them, "Unless I see the scars of the nails in His hands and put my finger on those scars and my hand in His side, I will not believe."

8. Sign saying "THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS" & Luke 23:38

Above Him were written these words: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

9. Small piece of sponge & Matthew 27:48

One of them ran up at once, took a sponge, soaked it in cheap wine, put it on the end of a stick, and tried to make Him drink it.

10. Something representing a spear {we use a toothpick} & John 19:34

One of the soldiers plunged his spear into Jesus' side, and at once blood and water poured out.

11. Rock & Matthew 27:59-60

Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a new lined sheet and placed it in his own new tomb, which he had just recently dug out of solid rock. Then he rolled a large stone across the entrance to the tomb and went away.

12. Empty egg & Matthew 28:6

He is not here He has risen just as He said.

There you go. A fun way to teach your children the true meaning of Easter. Here are a few pictures of what my Resurrection Eggs look like.

Inside the carton.

Inside one egg.

And the outside of the carton.

I used a piece of scrapbook paper from Michael's and my Cricut for the letter.

You can also try these ideas; Easter Cookies or Resurrection Bread. I have not tried these myself but from what I can tell they are educational and will keep your child's attention. Do you have your own special tradition to celebrate Easter?

Blessings.

Peep Kabobs

These were super quick and easy to make. My little chicks put them together for their teachers. I picked up a few boxes of Marshmallow Peep chicks and bunnies for about $1 a box. We had kabob skewers at home so I just set everything out on the dining room table and let the girls go to town.

These are terrible pictures. We were in such a hurry to get these put together early because we're leaving town for Easter.

I didn't get any pictures of the final product but you get the idea. I wrapped them in clear wrap and tied spring colored curling ribbon around the bottom. Done.

Quick, easy and cheep... I mean cheap.

Blessings.

Early Spring Branches

The seasons have changed again in our half bath. That is one sentence I never thought I'd say. However it is true, the seasons have changed yet again in our half bath. You remember our autumn branches and our winter branches. Now it's time for some spring branches.

I had thought about trying to tie in baseball somehow but decided that probably wouldn't work too well. It might not look as pretty either. So I went with some pale pink budding branches.

I used a role of pale pink streamers from the Dollar Tree and a little hot glue. That's all.

I cut the streamers into pieces about two inches long and tried to come up with a specific technique for making the perfect blossom. I wasn't happy with the results when I was trying so hard to make them perfect. So I decided to wing it. I crumpled, rolled, folded, twisted the streamer until I was happy. Then I used just a dot of hot glue to attach the blossom to the branch.

Here's a terrible close up.
I didn't add too many blossoms because spring hasn't fully arrived here yet. Our weather can't decide what it's doing. So these are my "early spring" branches.

Blessings.

Linking to: House of Hepworths

Pottery Barn Inspired Eggs

I think it's pretty safe to say we've all seen these beautiful eggs at Pottery Barn.

If you hadn't before, you have now. I saw these eggs at Pottery Barn when the Tall Man and I were out for our anniversary. I knew immediately I could make them myself. I was really excited because I hadn't seen them in blog world yet, I could possibly be one of the first! Yay!

Then a week passed and I didn't have our spring decorations down from the rafters in the garage. Then another week passed and it was so wet and cold there was no way I could spray paint the eggs. By this time I had seen a few other bloggers making their own version of PB's Easter eggs. I decided I was going to finish my eggs anyway and post about them.

I put a bunch of plastic eggs into a box where they were almost touching {this way the spray paint won't blow the eggs around.} I used Krylon's Fusion for Plastic in Textured Shimmer White Sands. I had to spray one side, let it dry, move the eggs around, spray another side, let it dry. I did that until I had completed three thin layers of paint.

Next I used my Cricut to cut out the word SPRING. I have an envelope full of extra letters from my Cricut, I put my cut out letters in the envelope. For this project I needed the background/frame paper. I used it as a stencil. With a little black acrylic paint and a foam brush I used my stencil to apply one letter to each egg.

If I try this again I will use a round paint brush, I think it would deliver a cleaner letter. My P and G got a little sloppy. I nestled the eggs in a white tray with some Spanish Moss, vanilla candles and little yellow flowers left over from my Spring Wreath.

Here they are as the centerpiece on my dining room table.

Blessings.

Linking to: Embellishing Life, House of Hepworths

Giveaway at How Does She?

The incredibly talented ladies over at How Does She? are hosting a little giveaway. One I will definitely be entering and I think you should too. They've partnered with The Hip Hostess and are giving away two cute aprons!

If I were to win I would pick this one.

Espresso Swirl

I also love this sweet petite apron, Cherry me!

There are three ways to enter so head over to How Does She? and enter! If you're not the cooking type, keep in mind Mother's Day is next month. Good luck!

Blessings.

Ikea Wish List

Next week our family will be driving to the Seattle area to spend Easter with my Tall Mans family. I absolutely adore the family I married into so I am looking forward to a couple days with them. I also love that my in-laws live about twenty minutes from an Ikea. Yay!! I am really hoping to squeeze in a "quick trip" to this Scandinavian super store. Is there such thing as a quick trip to Ikea? I've never had one but I'm sure someone out there has.

I decided if I am going to attempt a quick trip I should probably have a little list of things I'd like to pick up. I also compiled a list of things I'd love to take home if only I receive a large check in the mail the week before Easter and can borrow my favorite father-in-laws trailer to haul it all home. I thought I'd share with you some of those items.

On my "Haul it Home" list...

The Ektorp Sofa Bed

The whole Birkeland Bedroom Set.

A few Linnarp desks for my little chicks would be nice.

This Nordano expandable outdoor table is perfect for our family plus friends.

And in my "no check" quick trip list...

Raritet Food storage containers with lids. I'd like about 25 of them please.

I absolutely LOVE this Sockerart vase/pitcher!

I'm a sucker for anything that has to do with lakes. This Bild poster is great!

We already have some of these Glis boxes but they're perfect for my little chicks pens, pencils, markers and more.

If you've been to Ikea you know how difficult it was for me to narrow it down to just a handful of things. I could go on for days but I think it's time I stop putting lists together and get things done around here. Don't worry, I will keep you posted as to what actually makes it home with us.

Blessings.

Fuchsia Saturday

This Saturday, April 9th, Fred Meyer in Washington, Idaho and Oregon, is having their annual Fuchsia Saturday. I've gone to this event once before and it was great! You spend a little money, get your hands dirty and have a beautiful fuchsia arrangement for your home!

Here's how it works, you can either purchase containers at Fred Meyer or bring your own from home. There are ten varieties of fuchsias to choose from. The store provides the potting soil and you can make your own arrangement or get some help from a garden associate making the perfect arrangement. All you pay for are the flowers and they're at a special low price for this event.

Like I said I have been to this event once before and ended up with some beautiful hanging baskets for my front porch. I'm not sure I'll make it this year because you know how everything seems to happen at once? Well, it's all happening here this Saturday. My in-laws are in town, it's Fuchsia Saturday, Lowe's is having a Build and Grow workshop and a local high school is holding a craft fair in their gymnasium. Poop! I can't do it all! Around here family is always first so I'll be hanging with my in-laws.

I hope some of you can make it to one of these events. To find a Fred Meyer near you click here and a Lowe's near you, click here. As for in-laws and local high school craft fairs, you're on your own.

Have a happy weekend friends!

Blessings.

Spring Wreath

Everyone in blog land is sharing their spring wreaths and now it's my turn. I have seen some pretty incredible wreaths out there, like these...

Organize and Decorate Everything

Lemon Tree Creations

Barb Wired

Some are pretty extravagant and I just don't have time for extravagant right now so I'm going simple. I took a grapevine wreath ($6 with Michael's coupon) and one sprig (is that what they're called) of yellow flowers, that cost about $1.

All I did was clip off the individual stems of flowers and stick them in the wreath.
I am still debating whether or not I should add a little birdie or some eggs. For now I'm enjoying the simple bit of spring on this wreath.

Blessings.

Put a Pin In It

Can you name that movie? Coming from me you have to know it's either from a children's movie or something in the romantic comedy genre. Tall Man on the other hand can quote every Jim Carey or equally as "bathroom humorous" movie. This post is not about quoting movies, so let me get back on track.

My refrigerator usually looks like this...

This drives a lot of people crazy, the visual clutter right there for all to see. It's never really bothered me because it was all stuff I wanted easily visible. Our family calendar, school schedules, meal plans and of course artwork by and pictures of my little chicks. Going with the whole spring cleaning theme I decided I really needed to tidy things up on our refrigerator. I have a cabinet right next to the fridge that holds all my teas, coffee filters, coffee grinder, you know all the essentials for a good morning. I thought this would be the perfect place for some corkboard to hang all our extra, but quite important papers.

This really was an easy and inexpensive project. It would have gone even faster had I gone to Target first, instead of Michael's. I picked up a roll of corkboard from Michael's with a 40% off coupon so I spent like $3.

I was so excited until I got home, unrolled the corkboard and as I tried to flatten it, it cracked right down the middle. Not what I was expecting. So I took the roll back to Michael's and they were fantastic! They took the corkboard back and refunded my money without any hassle at all. Very nice!

I took my Michael's refund and headed down the shopping center to Target where I found these.

Perfect! These cork tiles come in a 4 pack and are much thicker than the roll. They are much thicker and super easy to install. They even come with their own 3m mounting tape. The tiles are a little more expensive, I think I spent a whopping $7. Definitely not breaking the bank with this one. After Target I drove home as fast as I could, I was actually giddy about hanging these cork tiles. Seriously five minutes later I was done. Ta da!

The tiles weren't quite wide enough to cover the entire surface of the inside of the door so I just centered them. Two tiles did fit perfectly going vertical. Now our meal plan, swimming lesson reminders, snapshots from Chuck E Cheese and school schedules are pinned nicely inside the cupboard for no one to see! Now the side of our refrigerator looks like this.

(Insert satisfied sigh.)

I could have put our calendar inside as well but then what is the point of a personalized calendar if you're not showing it off? I am very happy with how this $7 project turned out, not to mention I still have two cork tiles left over. Not sure where those will be going yet. Any ideas?

Blessings.

So Long MoJo

Today the family and I are taking a little road trip to meet some family half way between our homes. It will be a two and a half hour drive for each family. Usually we would be ecstatic about going to spend an afternoon with my Tall Man's aunt and her family. This trip will be a little different though. We've had some trouble with one of our dogs going potty on our carpet and we've found the culprit. My little Pomeranian, MoJo. This is a new thing for him and we're pretty sure he's telling us he's not too happy. With three little chicks all in school, two adults working and numerous extra curricular activities, we're just never home. I think MoJo has had enough of it so we reached out to family and friends asking if anyone was interested in a new K-9 companion. Tall Man's aunt called right away saying MoJo would be a perfect fit for her mother-in-law.

On Thursday of last week MoJo went in to be groomed. My middle chick said she didn't want to leave the house until Thursday so she could spend as much time as possible with MoJo. So sad. We're all sad thinking we won't have our little guy around anymore. He's been a lot of fun, from his Lion Cut to his amazing tricks (rolling, dancing, speak, etc..)

So here's to you MoJo, we'll miss you but we're sure you'll be so loved and happy at your new home.

Last Christmas Eve MoJo insisted on being in the family photo.

Maybe the only Pomeranian who goes fishing.

His first Lion cut.

And again with me and the chicks on Easter last year.

Thinking about actually eating off the spoon.

Making his way through the snow.

Okay. Enough is enough. I'm going to tear up here pretty soon and be asking for another trip to get my doggy back. So I'm done for now.

Blessings.