Disappearing Act

Wow, I can't believe it's been 3 weeks since my last posting. Now that my kids are out of school, I've been very busy, keeping them busy! My husband and I celebrated our 19th Wedding Anniversary and I also hurt my back. I have been laid up for the last week and I think I have realized that the house can not function well without me. Let me explain.. ( not tooting my own horn but...)

I think sometimes as a stay at home mom or dad, you tend to feel like you don't have any value in what you do, at least I do. On any given day, you pick up toys, dirty socks, wipe up spills, yada yada, only to discover that there is another trail of toys etc., behind you!! So, you turn around to pick things up, or get the kids involved, and yes once again you have another spill to wipe up! You get the idea!

Bless my husbands heart, who worked all day, and then had to come home and not only help me, but feed the kids, bathe them, laundry... you know MY job!

So all the little tasks that weren't done, ended up making our house look like a tornado went thru it!! Okay, so I'm not the cleanest gal in the world, but with me out of commision, it made me realize that I have a purpose in life. Being a loving wife, nurturing my children ( and giving them some chores, WINK,WINK) and taking care of my household!! I Know my husband realized that what I do is not an easy task, and said it's way easier to go to work everyday!! He even said that I needed to hurry up and get better because he couldnt handle it. Aaawww, how sweet!! We have a hard job ladies... and we are valued very much, even if you don't feel like it sometimes, you are!!

My girls really helped out when I was down. Making lunches, changing there baby brothers diapers, emptying dishwasher etc. , but they are also excited that I'm doing a little better and can get back to our normal routine. This past week I have learned that, even though I may not have someone telling me that I am appreciated every day, I know that my family really appreciates all that I do.

Creating a sitting area

Happy Friday everyone!! The weather is definitely starting to warm up here in the Sierras and we are spending more time outdoors. I wanted to create a sitting area outside, so we can enjoy watching our children play and also have a comfortable spot to sit and relax and have a glass of wine!!;0). So we had some wicker chairs that were already placed here in the back but needed some sprucing up. Here are the before pictures

Nothing great huh? BORING!!!

So after scoping out the garage again, I found some things that I incorporated to make a great space. Wrought iron, old window and a planter. Here is how it turned out.

 I had this large planter that I wasn't using and thought that it would make a cute little table. I also had an old wicker stand that I sprayed peekaboo blue for a pop of color. I  wanted to pick up the color in the pillows.

I moved the outside temperature gauge under the window and added a fern to go in the wicker stand.
All I need to do is put a little glass top on the table, but this is still functional for what we use it for. LOOOVE IT!

Last minute add was a flower from my garden!

Do you have a special seating area? I'd love to hear!
xoxo Kristine

Bench Makeover

Hello, I hope everyone is having a wonderful Memorial Day! While I'm waiting for the burgers to finish up off the BBQ, I thought I would share my Bench Makeover with you.


So, here is a couple of before pictures:

and here is a front view, you can even see old bird poo all over it! Sorry, but it's true.

So, here is what I did to it. First, I put my handy dandy eye protective gear on, so I could be safe. ( to much Dora the Explorer huh?) Then, I used an electric sander my hubby had in the garage. I had no clue how to put on the sand paper, but I learned very quickly and went to town sanding this bad boy down. Here is a picture of me, I'm such a dork!!

Here is how it looks after it was sanded, it's not perfect. Then I used a burgundy color paint to match my front door

After the paint was fully dry, I used 120 grit sandpaper and roughed up the edging, so it looked a little worn.

Then I sealed it with a clear sealer.

And here is how it looks now!

 I love how it turned out!!

I made a trip to Home depot, and purchased the pillows and flowers. It really added a punch of color to the front yard and now it looks lovely!!

My mom had this cute bird house in her garage and I had to have it!

Here is how it looks with the front door

One last look..

So what do you all think? Please comment and let me know! Thank You, Kristine

Pasta i Olio

This is the most requested side dish for my family. A super easy dish that will satisfy even the pickiest of eaters!

I am Italian and Portuguese, but I grew up knowing my Italian side. This dish I learned long ago from watching my grandmother make it. Of course every one's grandma was or is the best cook right!!? Mine was too! If you knew my grandpa, he was very picky, but this dish was one he didn't complain about! There all all different versions out there in blog land and beyond but, this is how my family enjoys it.

Basically it is just pasta (any kind)
extra virgin olive oil
butter
garlic
salt and pepper (to taste)
Parmesan cheese
Crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

Start with boiling water
and add salt and then pasta. After pasta is cooked , keep 1 cup of the pasta water and drain rest in colander.

Return pan to stove and add olive oil, butter and garlic.

saute garlic just for about a minute then add pasta and the 1 cup pasta water.

Add your salt, pepper, cheese, and crushed pepper flakes. Adding the flakes give it a little kick, but you can leave it out, and it is still yummy!!  Enjoy!!


oxox Kristine

Nightstand Decor

I hope that you all had a wonderful weekend! My husband and I just returned from the wine country and had a great time. I've been busy catching up with laundry and getting organized, so I thought I would do a quick post on my nightstand decor with you. It was very inexpensive to do.

The lamp shade was plain jane. I went to the fabric store and found this trim, I thought it was fun and I knew it would look nice around the lamp shade. Just used my glue gun!! The mannequin I found at a garage sale for 3 bucks and the picture frame at TJ maxx. I simply added a piece of scrapbook paper I had on hand to the picture frame to match my birdie theme!!

It's very simple, but it looks great next to our bed!!
I love it!!!


Kristine

3 ingredient muffins

The recipe I'm about to share with you is probably the easiest you will ever see! (for real, I'm not joking). When I was on (now off) weight watchers, I was introduced to these at one of the meetings. My whole family LOVE'S these!! They are quick and they freeze well. I've made them for breakfast, snacks and even dessert!

Here's the ingredients:

Spice cake mix (any brand)
Pumpkin ( not pumpkin pie) does not have to be organic, I hade this on hand.
Chocolate chips


Put all ingredients in mixing bowl and stir until well blended. The batter will be very thick (good workout for your arm)LOL!

Spray muffin tin with cooking spray and fill trays!

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes!! Enjoy!!

You can also use just white cake mix and add cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice, works great too!!

Kristine

Laundry Room Tour

Hello everyone!! Today I'm excited to share my laundry room and take you on a tour! So sit back and enjoy because it may never be this clean and free of clothes again! LOL!!! Seriously, laundry is one of those things that we never feel caught up on. If you have a daughter like mine, she will change her clothes the second she gets home from school, and then change again into her jammies later on, but that's a whole different subject.

Before I start, let me just say a very dear friend of mine who is a photographer took these photos! She is amazing!! Her name is Jia! Please stop by and take a look at her website at www.jeanneimages.com

Here's a view walking in from the doorway

One of the things I loved about this laundry room when we bought this house was the counter space for folding clothes. There is my little bird house! You can see how I made it here

On the left, you see a picture with mason jars. I simply took a picture frame and put burlap on the back and hot glued them on the frame and added a cute little knob on the top. I love how they turned out! Gotta give a shout out to my mom, she had the idea.

This next picture is for my children!! They see an arrow pointing right into the basket where they need to put there dirties in, ( half the time they just throw it on the floor, hopefully this will help:) The arrow is made of card board...sshhh don't tell anyone.

 I found this old shutter when I went on our camping trip! Didn't do anything to it, I thought it looked really cute as is. And of course my wash sign, you can see how I made this project here

Here's another picture frame that I did. I sprayed the clothes pins black and hot glued those on. So Cute!

And my ladder...

And of course, you can't have a laundry room without the shandy:0) This one came from The Home Depot.

I needed a spot for my ironing board so I just wrapped a wire around the neck of the board and hung it on a door hanger.

Well, that's my laundry room! Thanks for stopping by and checking it out. Hope you enjoyed.

oxox, Kristine