Football Player

I am so grateful to be the mommy of this darling boy.
This week I couldn't decide which picture I loved the best, so I am sharing three.


I love this one because is always asking me to be an elephant with him--and this is how you walk like an elephant.


I love this "tough guy" look he has on his face. :) He is wearing his football jacket and football hat.


Here is a better look at his football helmet/hat.

Check out other great mommy moments or even join in the fun by going here:

Inspiration

I tried to post this video on here but it wasn't working, but if you go here and watch this 5ish minute video, you won't regret it.

Simply Valentine

Here are three more fun decorating ideas for Valentine's day. They all look pretty simple and inexpensive! Children could even help out with these!

Origami Hearts



Paper Heart Garland


Valentine Wreath

I found all of these great ideas from the fun blog Gordon Gossip

Ruffle Dress

I found this tutorial today and am in love with it!

Love at First Sight

I am in love with this.


And this.

And this one too.


I think these wreaths are so romantic and lovely and just perfect for Valentine's Day. But I know I wouldn't want to take it down afterward. Find the instructions here.

Baby Blankets

I'm having a baby. And I'm itching to make something cute and soft for my baby. Just found this great idea through Little Birdie Secrets (the pictures is from them too)! A self binding blanket! Love it! I'm going to have to try it out! Find the tutorial here.

The other side of Sweet

This darling boy of mine has recently shown another side of himself previously unknown to me. He loves to pretend to be tigers (in particular Shere Kahn from The Jungle Book) and dragons and his tiger/dragon/anything scary or mean growl has become something quite fearsome! Here heis caught in the act (I asked him to growl) with his dragon cave box in the background.

If you want to share your favorite glimpse into motherhood photos, go check out Simply Modern Mom here:

A little of everything

XO Smores! How cute is that--I love this fun idea, found at The Idea Room.


I've been wanting to make these since we moved into our house. I also love the idea of putting them next to your child's bed so they can read before going to sleep at night, or just relax on their bed reading. :)


The following recipes from Studio 5 look good to me. :) I am also trying to obtain a three month supply of food for our family--here is a great resource you might want to check out!

Hot cocoa Sticky Bundt
Ingredients:

• 24 Rhodes™ Dinner Rolls, thawed but still cold
• 1 1/2 cups milk chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup Stephen's Gourmet Hot Cocoa mix
• 1/4 cup pecans
• 2/3 cup toffee bits
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar

Method:

Cut rolls in half. Wrap each half around 1 teaspoon chocolate chips and completely enclose. Dip each roll half in gourmet cocoa mix until well coated. Place in a large sprayed bundt pan, alternately with pecans and toffee bits. Sprinkle any remaining cocoa mix over rolls. Combine butter and brown sugar in a small microwave safe bowl. Microwave 30 seconds. Stir until completely combined and pour over rolls.

Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until almost to the top of the pan. Remove wrap and bake at 350°F 35 minutes. Cover with foil last 10 minutes of baking. Invert immediately onto serving platter.

Korean Tacos with Cucumber Cilantro Lime Salsa

Korean BBQ Meat

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 - 3 pounds short ribs or chuck roast
• 1 Bartlett Pear peeled, and diced
• 3 green onions, sliced
• 3 tbsp Rice Vinegar Dressing
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 tbsp granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup Ginger Flavored Soy Sauce, or regular soy sauce
• 1/2 cup pear nectar
• 1/4 cup water
• 3 tsp minced garlic
• 3 tsp minced ginger
• 2 tsp coarse ground pepper
• 3 tbsp sesame oil

Method:

Whisk together all the above ingredients. Place trimmed meat into slow cooker and pour the blended ingredients over meat.

Cook on high for 4-6 hours, or on low for 8-10 hours, until meat is tender, and easily pulls apart.

Cucumber Cilantro Lime Salsa

Ingredients:

• 2 cucumbers, thinly sliced
• 1/4 red bell pepper diced
• 2 scallions thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup snipped cilantro leaves
• 1 tbsp minced jalapeño, if desired
• 1/3 cup rice vinegar dressing
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 2 tbsp lime juice
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1-2 tsp fresh minced ginger

Method:

In a medium sized bowl, toss together, cucumbers, peppers, scallions, and cilantro.

In a separate bowl, whisk vinegar, oil, lime juice, sugar and ginger together.

Pour over cucumber mixture and toss to coat. Serve immediately.

Makes about 2 1/2 cups


To assemble Tacos:
Warm tortillas on on griddle, or wrap in foil and heat in the oven.
Place desired amount of meat on heated tortilla.
Top with lettuce and Salsa. Drizzle with additional Ginger Soy Sauce if desired.

Makes 6-8 servings

More Pillows

I am in love with both of these beautiful pillows. Unfortunately after all these free tutorials, I don't really want to pay money to get the pattern...maybe someday in the future. Or I could figure it out on my own if I was really ambitious. For now I'll just admire them. :)

Countdown to Kisses

I didn't love this at first...until I glanced through the tutorial and realized that those are Hershey Kisses with numbers glued on the bottom! How cute is that? I would love to have one of these now! If only I had some woodworking skills...

Love is in the Air

I'm getting so excited for Valentine's Day! I really need to get jumping on all these cute ideas I've been finding if I want to do any of them! Here's one more to add to the mix...love it! Although pretty sure I won't be making my own frame like she did in the tutorial. Wow.

And remember all those free printables? Well you can find out how to make your own customized prints here!

Beautiful Bedding

I am in love with this. I desperately want to make it for our bedroom now, which is in serious need of a make-over...or a make-up since it has never really been "made" into anything since we moved in. :)

Pillows

I have been wanting to get some nice throw pillows to go on our old ugly couch...since we won't be buying a new couch anytime soon, at least we could have cute pillows, right? I LOVE both of these ideas!! But I think I would want them to stay all year round...not just for February!

I also like the idea of this little piece of art, although I would probably change the words since I'm certainly not in love with the Beatles at all and that's what I would think of all the time seeing that... any other suggestions?

Valentine Art

I've been seeing so many fabulous Valentine printables all over lately...what a simple and inexpensive way to make your home feel a little more love for the holiday!
Find them here, here, here, here, here and here.

Citrus anyone?

I have been completely craving everything citrus lately! From orange julius, to even the cheap-o tasting Sunny-D, to eating a grapefruit or orange everyday....and I still can't get enough!

So I've been wanting to try lemon tarts for quite awhile...here's a recipe that looks yummy! And can I just say the lemon bars look divine? Not to mention the cupcakes and cookies...mmm. Just go check out this post for yourself.

1. Mini Lemon Tarts

Yields 6 Mini Tarts

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar
1 cup milk
3 egg yolks, beaten
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup unsalted butter
2 tablespoons grated lemon peel
6 mini pie tarts (frozen aisle)

Directions:
In a saucepan over medium heat, combine sugar and cornstarch. Gradually pour in milk until smooth, stirring regularly. Cook until thick and reduce heat. Continue cooking for 2 more minutes. Remove from heat, add in egg yolks slowly. Return to heat until boiling and cook 2 minutes longer (until thick). Remove from heat and stir in butter and lemon peel. Stir in lemon juice. Cover and cool completely. Fold in sour cream and add dollops into each pie tart. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Garnish with whipped cream and additional lemon slices and zest.

3. Lemon Angel Food Cupcakes

Recipe via Two Peas & Their Pod, originally on Baking Bites

Ingredients

3/4 cup superfine sugar, divided
1/2 cup sifted cake flour
5 large egg whites, room temperature
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
zest of one lemon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.
2. In a small bowl, sift together cake flour and 1/4 cup superfine sugar.
3. In a large bowl, beat room-temperature egg whites until foamy, then add in cream of tartar and salt. Gradually add in the remaining 1/2 cup of superfine sugar while the mixer is on high speed, beating the egg whites to soft peaks.With a rubber spatula add in the vanilla and lemon zest, do this very gently!
4. Fold in flour mixture, adding it in two or three additions.
5. Divide evenly into prepared muffin tins. Fill them pretty full.
6. Bake for 16-18 minutes, until golden brown. The tops will spring back when lightly touched.
7. Cool on a wire rack.

I think this recipe would be divine with a light glaze or a whipped topping. For a simple idea, top with fresh fruit!

5. Luscious Lemon Bars

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 lemons, juiced

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a medium bowl, blend together softened butter, 2 cups flour and 1/2 cup sugar. Press into the bottom of an ungreased 9×13 inch pan. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until firm and golden. In another bowl, whisk together the remaining 1 1/2 cups sugar and 1/4 cup flour. Whisk in the eggs and lemon juice. Pour over the baked crust.

Bake for an additional 20 minutes in the preheated oven. The bars will firm up as they cool. For a festive tray, make another pan using limes instead of lemons and adding a drop of green food coloring to give a very pale green. After both pans have cooled, cut into uniform 2 inch squares and arrange in a checker board fashion.

V-Day

Um...I love these! How fun would it be to eat off of special heart shaped plates and/or bowls for Valentine's day? If only they were a necessity or something... :) They also come in pink...you can find them here.

Library Tradition

We used to always stop and get a handful of skittles for a dime when we went to the library...now it's moving to a new location and I hope they still have skittles there so we can keep our library tradition! Just in case they don't, I had to take a picture.

I want to be a part of this photography project for the year--since it is probably the closest I will get to anything photography until we can afford a nice camera! Check it out here! (Hopefully it works out better than my attempt to be a part of project 52: date nights last year!)

Flower Clips and Candy Canes

I am really in love with this flower clip and want to make one for my hair!! These would be fun to make for Valentine's Day...or any day really! :)


Also if you have a collection like this, you might want to try this recipe for peppermint popcorn!