Simple Woman's Daybook

For Today...Tuesday, June 28th, 2011


Outside my Window...it is finally raining after a month of no rain…


What We're Learning... the letter B. Bugs are our theme this week so we have been coloring, tracing, and reading library books all about bugs and the letter B

I am thankful for... a little reprieve from the 100 degree heat wave we have been having…it is only 70 degrees right now. I'm also thankful for time to just be quiet *read below*


From the kitchen... we are going out for lunch. Tonight we’ll be having roast, new potatoes, carrots, fried squash, and green beans


I am wearing...khaki Bermuda shorts, brown and turquoise top, and brown flip flops


I am reading... The Thorn by Beverly Lewis and Choosing to See by Mary Beth Chapman


I am praying... for little Noah as he continues to cut his back molars. He seems to be having a lot of pain and is very fussy.


I am creating... a new cleaning routine with this resource.


I am hearing... Olivia and Noah playing “house” together J


I am remembering... the messages I listened to yesterday…


I am going... to meet my husband for lunch today.

On my mind... a sweet friend…


Noticing that... my floors really need mopped today.


One of my favorite things... baking cookies with Olivia.


A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week... I have an appointment with a knee surgeon tomorrow, library on Thursday, grocery store on Friday, then we will be enjoying a 3 day weekend with Eric!!!



A Picture to Share..



*I'm back and trying to keep it simple here in my little blogging world. I love this little blog but it was time for a break to just let life be silent and enjoy my family. I'm looking forward to blogging again and I have quite a few pictures to share!! :-)

Open House means life will get busy

  

Last week was a bit crazy around here and I decided that blogging would have to be moved to the back burner for awhile. Our church hosted us a housewarming party on Saturday and I spent all last week cleaning and finishing up a few home improvement projects. We accomplished a lot and enjoyed having lots of friends and family over for open house. It's so nice to finally have the house decorated and comfortable. It takes me forever to make up my mind on how I want things to look or what I want to buy. I'm not sure I will ever be completely finished. :-)

 I know I promised to post pictures of Noah's room, but I still have a few more things I want to add. :-) That's just code to let you know that it's really not finished yet. I have so many ideas in my head and I can't make a final decision. I want something that is not to babyish (is that a word?) since he is almost 15 months. I'm thinking a animal theme (frogs, turtles, bugs) with plaid fabrics mixed in (blues, greens, and browns). I found one at Target (can't find online) and loved the colors. I just need to adapt it to work with a crib/toddler bed. I may end up making my own bedding if I can find the right fabrics. That would be a huge feat for my not so creative self, so we shall see... :-)

This week started off great! We went to a revival service at our old church last night and enjoyed visiting with friends and family there. We had plans to go back this evening, but the kids came down with a virus today. Olivia and Noah both have a cough and a low grade temperature. It seems to be going around right now and we decided to join in on the fun. On the positive side they both went down for naps without a peep today.

Last week I did a little clothes shopping for the kids. We have had a lot of warm weather here in the past few weeks and I was tired of digging through drawers everyday to come up with decent outfits. I found lots of cute stuff for Olivia at a few consignment sales we have had, but Noah has been harder to but for this year. I picked up several of these for him at Sam's and I found some cute t-shirts too. Now I just need to find a good deal on some camo, khaki, and navy shorts.

I have lots of pictures to share from last week, but I guess I will wait till later in the week to post them. Our laptop is on it's last leg and uploading pics tends to freeze it up or make it run super slow. We bought a new desktop last week, but we are waiting on the new desk to arrive before we put it together. It should be here tomorrow!

A uncompleted grocery list is calling my name so I guess I will answer. I need some creative juices to start running in my kitchen. I'm getting tired of the same old meals. If you have any recipes you are loving right now drop me a comment or email.

A Year to Capture: January 29- February 4

January 29

Saturday was a BEAUTIFUL day here in the south with 70 degree temps!!

We spent most of the day at the park and in our backyard.

I was also able to sneak out for a bit during the kids nap and visit a local antique mall. I bought a set of white dinner plates (something I have been looking for) and then stopped by Sonic for Happy Hour!!

 Noah was really wanting some of mommy's Diet Coke. :-)

January 30

We went to church, had lunch with Eric's parents, then went home for the afternoon. Noah was still recovering from his recent sickness and was to fussy to go back to church that evening. We ordered a pizza and watched a family movie together!

Olivia enjoying her pizza :-)

January 31

No picture. We had a very busy day! I cleaned house that morning, look Eric lunch, caught up on the weekend laundry, went grocery shopping, then made supper.

February 1

 It was a cold, rainy day so we spent the day at home.

Olivia wanted to wear her "Spongebob" shirt that day. She watches very little of that show so I thought it was so funny that she called it that.

February 2

We got up early and went to storytime at the library then meet Eric for lunch at McDonalds.

Olivia LOVES to watch Elmo videos on my phone. :-)

February 3

We went to visit my mom that morning, came home for naps, then went to Eric's parents for dinner last night.

I was chopping a salad to take and the kids "helped" me wash dishes.

February 4

Another cold, snowy day at home. My mom and siblings stopped by for lunch then Eric came home for a bit.

They were watching the snow fall outside and enjoying a little daddy time!!

Hope you are enjoying all this winter weather!!

Have a great weekend!!

Menu Plan for January 31- February 6

Breakfast:


Cereal and bananas

Chocolate Chip Muffins and yogurt

Pancakes w/ bacon

Scrambled eggs and toast

Oatmeal and bananas

Bread Machine Cinnamon Rolls and yogurt

Sausage Cheese Muffins (from the freezer)



Lunch:

Tacos w/ chips and salsa

Turkey and cheese sandwiches

Chicken noodle soup

Grilled Cheese

Leftovers



Supper:

Breakfast for dinner (eggs, bacon, biscuits and gravy)

Chicken Spaghetti w/ tossed salad and garlic toast

Hamburgers w/ French fries

Oven Fried Chicken w/ mashed potatoes, green beans, rolls

Scalloped potatoes and ham w/ tossed salad

Chili w/ cheese toast

Extended Family Meal

A Year to Capture: January 22-28

Poor little Noah has been very sick this week so my picture taking has been limited. I took him to the doctor yesterday and he has a throat infection. His fever has been very high since Tuesday night, but it broke last night and has been lower today. Still praying that his little body will heal soon.

Hope you enjoy a glimpse at our week!!

January 22

Teeth brushing time!!

January 23

No pictures. We went to church then ate dinner with Eric's family and some friends.

January 24

I babysat Olivia's friend Levi for the day and they enjoyed a little art time together.

January 25

No pictures. I took a meal to a friend, did a little shopping, then spent the evening at home. Noah started getting sick that night.

January 26

Baking cookies with mommy

Noah washed the dishes :-) 

He was very sick but still wanted to help and play.

We have been having some warmer weather so we played and colored outside that afternoon.

January 27

No pictures. We went to the doctor then took a little road trip with Eric that afternoon. We were getting cabin fever so it was a nice to get out for a bit. 

January 28

Juice and cartoons this morning. Olivia and I also went to our Play and Pray group this morning while my grandmother watched Noah. Thanks Mamaw!!

A Year to Capture: January 15-21

Hope you all had a wonderful week!! After I ran out of picture space last week I forgot all about coming back with last weeks pictures. Here are a few...

Lunch and Cartoons!!

A quick glimpse of Olivia with crazy clothes and hair from naptime :-)

Now for this weeks photos!!

January 15

My niece Anna celebrated her 7th birthday on Saturday. She had a party at the rollerskating rink. If you want to know why she has a number 1 on her cake go check out her mom's blog :-)

Olivia LOVES to rollerskate and did very well out on the rink.

Noah even got in on the fun!!

(He is the short thing out in the middle with his Uncle Dustin)

January 16

Olivia enjoying some reading time before church on Sunday.

January 17

We spent some time in the the kitchen on Monday. I made these Banana Nut Muffins. Olivia loves to cook with mommy. Noah just walks around with bowls on his head most of the time :-)

January 18

Looks like they found the animal crackers :-)

January 19

Noah has now mastered the art of chair climbing. He can push them wherever he want to go and climb right up. I'm hoping this phase passes soon!!

January 20

Our second snowfall of the season. I believe we got around 3inches.

Noah enjoying a bowl of frozen yogurt :-)

January 21

My beautiful, blue-eyed girl!!

Thanking God for each of these days and trying to enjoy each and every moment!! Well we are headed out soon to celebrate my mother-in-law's birthday at our local Japanise steakhouse!! Fried rice anyone?!?! Yummy!!

 Happy Weekend!!

That's Life....

I haven’t blogged as much this week and I guess my only excuse is that we have just been enjoying life. I love to share though so here is a glimpse at what we have been doing:

Monday was a snow day here in our area and we spent the day at home. The kids were up at the crack of dawn and I fixed everyone breakfast before Eric left for work. I wish he could have stayed home and enjoyed the snow with us, but he had/has a 4W drive truck and made it there just fine. Noah went down for a nap after that and I worked out while Olivia watched a movie. After that, Olivia and I went out to play in the snow. She lasted about 30 minutes before the cold got to her. :-) It started snowing again mid-morning so we decided to stay indoors the rest of the day. We played games, baked chocolate chip cookie, and made Chicken tortilla soup for supper.

By Tuesday the roads were clear so we went to do some grocery shopping, visited my mom, and ate lunch with Eric. We also had dinner with my parents that evening.

Wednesday was another slow day and I did some house cleaning then took the kids to play at our McDonald’s indoor playground. The temps have been very cold this week so we have tried to stay indoors as much as possible. I made pancakes and bacon for supper last night and we attended mid-week service at our church.

Today we woke up a little later that normal (7:30) so we had to rush around and get ready for Story time at the library. The kids love all the singing and craft time so we try to go every week. We also picked up quite a few books. After that we decided to join some friends at McDonald’s again then came home for lunch and naps. I'm making Sloppy Joes and french fries for supper then we have a church event to attend tonight.

I’ve also been doing a lot of reading lately and I wanted to share a few of the titles:

I finished this book last week and I will say it is a must read for mother's with littles.

I'm still working my way through this book and I have enjoyed it so far. I know that I don't have what you would call a large family yet, but I love anything that will help me stay organized with children. You might not apply everything she says because it just might not work for you, but she has lots of experience to learn from in raising a family.

I'm listening to the audio version of this book and browsing through a few sewing books just for fun.

These next 2 books I have on hold at our library and they will probably be my February reads.

I've read the first book in this series and it was a good fiction read.

I'm also working on a post to share with you all the books I plan to read this year

Happy Thursday everyone!!!

Our Menu Plan: Jan 9-15

Snow is falling outside my window as I type this. This is our first snow fall of the year and we have several inches fall overnight. I'm enjoying this quiet day at home and snuggling with my babies. Hopefully Eric will join us later this afternoon!!

Breakfast:

Sunday- Church

Monday- Eggs and cereal

Tuesday- Pancakes and bacon

Wednesday- Cereal and yogurt

Thursday- Cinnamon toast and ham

Friday- Fried eggs and toast

Saturday- Biscuits and gravy

 

Lunch:

Sunday- Family Dinner w/ Eric’s parents

(Tacos w/ 7 layer dip and chips)

Monday- Saturday- Sandwiches, Baked Potatoes, Wraps, Leftovers, or Mac and cheese w/ fruit and chips

Supper:

Sunday –Scrambled eggs and toast

Monday – Some kind of soup…I had planned Fajitas but it snowed last night and made me want soup instead.

Tuesday- Eat with my parents (Roast w/ sides)

Wednesday – Creamy chicken noodle w/ broccoli

Thursday – Sloppy Joes w/ French fries

Friday – Spaghetti w/ garlic bread

Saturday – Out of town for niece’s birthday

Snacks:

Cookies, popcorn, fruit or yogurt

For more menu planning ideas go to orgjunkie.com

Loving on My Home in 2011

As many of you know, we bought and moved into a new home this past November. Eric and I have been renters since our marriage began 3 years ago so this was new territory for us. It was exciting and nerve racking at the same time. It was a huge step to make such a large purchase, but I loved the thought of owning my own home. We needed something a little larger than our rental, but still modest in size and price. We looked for over a year before this home came on the market and caught our attention.

Now that we are settled and the New Year is here, my mind is whirling with ideas to decorate and update. Our house was built in the 60’s and the previous owners already did a few renovations. I want to make this home my own and leave my only personal touches all throughout. And although I’m not the most creative person, I have a few ideas in my mind of what I want it all to look like. So this year we are will be the year of improvement. On our home that is… :-)

Here are just a few things we hope to accomplish:

• Renovate the main hall bathroom. If the full remodel doesn’t happen this year, I hope to at least paint and add a few accessories.

• Decorate the kids rooms and purchase bedding for them both

• Put new closet doors on in every bedroom

• Change the lighting fixture in our dining room.

• Frame and hang family photos throughout the house.

• Finish some touch up painting on doors and trim.

• Shop second-hand and yard sales for cute things that add character.

• Find a new piece of furniture for our computer area.

• Find and organize an area/closet for craft and school supplies

• Purchase a new lamp for my living room. (one was recently broken)

• Refinish or paint a chest we bought for our master bedroom (it was found at an antique store and needs a little TLC)

• Finish painting the laundry room

• Renovate our master half-bath

• Create a mail/keys/schedule center by our side door entrance.

• Work on the landscaping

• A few more outdoor items that Eric and I still need to decided on and add to our budget (patio, storage shed, swing set/play area)

Go to The Nester to see more Home Improvement Goals for 2011!!

 

2011 is Coming!!

I know most of you were expecting me to post Christmas photos today and not a menu plan. :-) That was the plan but our computer is a little slow when it comes to uploading pictures and I have a LOT of pictures to share. I'm also trying to establish some sort of routine in our lives again now that Christmas is over and the New Year is almost here. I started yesterday by planning a menu and shopping with sale flyers and coupons for the first time in several weeks. Our budget is another item that needs to be worked on this week. You will probably see several post this week related to the New Year and goals for 2011. Our family logistics are changing as the kids are getting a little older. I'm looking forward to sharing with you about our family worship time and maybe even share a video of Olivia saying her Bible verses from memory!! (Yes, I'm a little proud of her)

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and that you found hope in the greatest gift ever given, Jesus Christ!!

Menu Plan for 12/27-01/02

Monday:

B- Cereal and blueberry muffins

L- Popcorn chicken and crackers

S- Kids ate at grandparents and Eric and I had Sonic after we cleaned the office. ( I clean the office building were my husband works and we had to clean on a weeknight this time because of the holidays)

Tuesday:

B- Blueberry muffins and toast

L-Pizza

S- Loaded chicken w/ salad and rolls

Wednesday:

B-Eggs and biscuits

L- Sandwiches w/ fruit and chips

S- Red beans and rice w/ polish sausage and green beans

Thursday:

B- Pancakes and bacon

L-Leftovers

S- Lasagna w/ salad

Friday:

B- Cereal and fruit

L- Leftovers

S- Chicken Quesidillas w/ corn and spanish rice

Saturday:
B-Biscuits and gravy w/ bacon
L/S- Chili and sandwiches w/ chips and dip

Sunday:
B- Cereal and cinnamon toast
L- Out
S- Leftovers

Our New Place: The Big Reveal

Hello Everybody!! I think this many post in one week is a new record for me. I know several of you have been waiting for these pictures so I hope you enjoy this little tour of our new home. Noah was napping while I snapped these pics so I forgot his room. Since we only had two bedrooms in the other house his room is still a work in progress. Once I get it decorated, I'll have a "Noah's New Room" post. Really all of the rooms still need some TLC, so be looking for "makeover/remodeling" post over the next few months.

The Master Bedroom

Plans: I have a chest that I'm refinishing that will go on the wall between the bathroom and door, change out the throw pillows on the bed, and add a few pictures to the left wall.

Looking into the Master Half-Bath

(If we stay in this house for very long we have plans to knock out a wall and expand the Master suite.)

Olivia's Room

Plans: New bedding, replace lamp shade that was broken, and add a set of table and chairs.

Laundry Room

Plans: Finish painting and organize shelf

Hallway

Left side: Noah's room and Olivia's room

Right side: Furnace closet, hall bathroom, linen closet, laundry room, and master bedroom. The center door is another closet.

Hall/Main Bathroom

Plans: A complete remodel with tile removed and new cabinets and countertop/sink. I want to either replace the tile or add a bead board around the room and change the paint color to a blue/gray.

Dining Room

Plans: Remove off-center light-fixture and add hanging track lights, put in a vent free gas fireplace under the mirror, and add a black hutch.

Kitchen and Breakfast Nook

Plans: No changes yet. :-)

Carport entry

Living Room

Plans: New front entry door w/decorative glass center (it is ordered and coming in soon),

add three pictures over the TV, and put my glider chair in the corner after Christmas.

We are also painting all the trim and baseboards, putting up new closet doors, and replacing the air vents through the house.

Noah wanted in on the picture taking and I can't let you go away without seeing just a little bit of this cute little stinker!!

Hope you enjoyed the tour!! I can't wait to get started on the home renovations. Eric and I will be calling it "Weekend Warriors: On a Budget."