Homemade Valentine's Day Treats

We have another snow day here, without one snowflake having fallen yet I might add, ha ha. I thought I'd share some of our favorite homemade treats in honor of Valentine's Day....enjoy!

Easy No-Bake Truffles

 Easy Crepes with Cream and Fruit

Whoopie Pies with Real Creme Filling

Homemade Brownies with Cream Cheese Topping

Brownie Volcano

 Triple Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies

Double Cocoa Dream Cookies

So what will your Valentine's Day look like this year? I'm a little (okay, a LOT) bummed that I'll still be on this month-long sugar, dairy, gluten and caffeine elimination diet and won't be able to eat any of the treats I'll make, which is tantamount to torture in my book. But I love to spoil my family with special little sweet things, so I'll just have to pray for optimal self-control. ;) Regardless, we'll have a big special family dinner together, and I'm thinking of coming up with some small one-on-one dates with my older boys while Daddy takes Isabelle out on a date.

Quick and Easy Craft: Prettifying Basic Mittens or Gloves

Halfway to the weekend! It's been a rough week so far, maybe today will turn the tides. :)

I've decided to share some of my sewing projects from Rose & Ruffle on this blog, since sewing is such a big part of my life. Feel free to skip over if this doesn't interest you in the last, ha ha.

Here is a super simple craft idea to transform basic mittens or gloves into something a little cuter, ie prettify them. I used leftover scraps and some buttons I already had in my jar, so this was free. Easy AND free? Hooray!




Decide what shape you want. Choose something fairly simple to cut out, like a heart. Using two to three strands of embroidery floss, stitch the shape in place wherever you would like it on the mitten. I thought about doing a few more on the top before settling on just the ruffled edge.

I added the button for extra detail, but it isn't necessary. Or you could sew a smaller shape onto the first, maybe a contrasting color and thread. Totally up to you!


Another unexpected perk of this little project: doing this personalizes your child's mittens, which makes them easily identifiable at school. Everybody knew exactly whose mitten belonged to Isabelle, students and teachers alike. :)

Dining Room Before and After...Still in Progress

I think this room has come a long way since we began two years ago. We moved in when I was six months pregnant (mid-December), and I was able to paint the window trim white, but everything else remained the same until a few weeks before Levi's first birthday. That was stressful and a lot of hard work, but I have no regrets about pushing ourselves to get it done before the big day. It made a world of difference, and I actually loved this room for the first time.

We hadn't even put the covers back on yet, ha!, but I remember feeling ridiculously happy about how it was all turning out.

I was thrilled with how it all came together for Levi's first birthday party. Posted HERE.

The white trim was a big improvement, and we removed the lower grids, for Levi's baby shower. You can read the whole post HERE.

That summer, we hired a company to replace our windows, and I feel it was so worth the investment.

Oh dear, I guess this post is jumping all around. This was literally the second week we lived here. Wherever there were nails (or really big screws, as were everywhere here), I hung up something with zero guilt or hemming and hawing. After we painted, it was months before I could bring myself to put a hole in the wall.

Fast forward two Christmases...

The above shelf was installed a couple weeks before Christmas after debating for over a year about to add to the wall right there. I just couldn't commit! I finally pulled up my big girl pants and pulled the trigger. It's from Target (online) and was on sale for just under twenty-two bucks. I have loved it since day one. (I did switch the tables since it made more sense to keep the drink station underneath the cup hooks.)

And here is how the space looks today...

I don't normally share this particular viewpoint or angle because I just don't like it. ha ha

What I mean is, I'm not a fan of this hole in the wall/ pass through. The additional light is fabulous because our kitchen is dark dark dark, but other than that it serves absolutely no purpose. No bueno. I've been thinking about what to do here for a long, long time, and I think we've come up with a plan. We'll be removing the oak woodwork, cutting down the wall to counter height, and adding a new counter top with bar stools on the kitchen side. That will add much needed counter space and offer additional seating, always challenging real estate to find with five kiddos. We'll also be replacing the chandelier and building a sliding barn door for the pantry, hopefully in the near-ish future. I'll keep you posted.

I'm still quite undecided about putting the curtain rods and curtains back up. Maybe some wooden blinds instead? Plantations shutters?  Or just leave them nekked? Thoughts welcome! :)

Happy Friday. Have a fabulous weekend!

Paint: 

Olympic One (paint + primer) "Fog" in Flat

Off the shelf Ultra White Semi-Gloss for trim and wainscoting

Personal Goals for The New Year

Well.
We're three weeks in.
It was a great beginning, but things took a downward spiral quickly when we all got sick (still recovering, ugh), and now I'm in that post-holiday-sick-of-winter funk.
But it's okay. I don't have to throw in the towel, admit defeat, or hang my head in shame. I get to keep trying, keep working towards my goals, and that's a good thing!

So here they are:

1. Spend more time reading and studying the Word

2. Pray for my children and husband with specific and intentional petitions, not just broad "generic" ones

3. Continue to move my body and fuel it with the best nutrition

4. Invite more friends and families over for coffee, play dates, big dinners...you name it!

5. Dream more. No, really. Dream big crazy dreams.

Interestingly enough, or maybe not, HA, these were quite similar to my goals for 2017. So how did I do last year?

I wanted to do some specific Bible studies last year, and they did not happen. I also was lacking in the reading Scripture department, big time, which has such a huge impact on my day to day life. I still feel extremely unsettled at our "new/old" church, but I'm really craving interaction and friendship and all that, so I'm just going to reach out to a few friends and see about doing our own study a couple times a month. I've also committed to reading the Bible in one year, and I've been doing well so far.

My prayer life still needs work. Some days/weeks I feel on fire, and others, well, barely dim.

Ha, don't ask me about my fitness goals THIS week! Earlier I shared that I felt more in tune with my body and more in shape right after Levi was born, and then as time went on (and sleep got nixed for over a year) I fell into bad habits and my self esteem suffered. I'm doing better. My family gave me a FitBit for my birthday, and I love it! Turns out I'm very competitive with it, ha ha. Now I need to take the time and effort to eat better, and stop snacking on junk!

I think we did well in the hospitality department, and I'd like to keep that momentum going. There's just something so special about coming together and sharing what's going on in your life with friends.

I admit that I get stuck a lot lately. In my own head. Life is complicated, isn't it? I mean, it isn't, but it so is. And relationships. Talk about complicated! I seem to be in a season where past hurts keep coming to mind, and it's hard to get past them. And then it's hard to dream about anything, really, because I'm just plain stuck. I suppose I need to pray more about this one.

So anyway, those are my goals for the year. Do they resonate with anyone else? Does anyone even read this blog anymore? It's been so hard to keep up with everything, but I'm trying! :)


And of course, every New Year I treat myself to one or two new plants to celebrate new beginnings, and to help get me through these dreary winter days. The cats devoured the poor African Violet, but the pink one is doing well. For now. ;)