Nature's Teething Ring!

I used to think it was disgusting when I would see other people's babies sucking on the rind of watermelon...."How unsanitary!" I thought. But then I tried it.

I wash the outside of the watermelon and then when I'm cutting up pieces for us I just save pieces of rind and put them in a baggie in the fridge. I leave just a little bit of pink on it for sweetness. She LOVES it! I think it must have to do with the consistency of it. One side is glossy and the other side she can dig into with her hurting teeth. Plus it's cold and slightly sweet. It entertains her for SO LONG! I will often give it to her in the car when she is usually really fussy. Well, there you go! No more money spent on teething rings for us! At least not during summer! Just thought I would share with all my mommy friends!

**NOTE! If your baby has more than 2 teeth they may need lots of supervision while sucking! My nephew can literally eat the rind as well**

Pork with Kale and Quinoa

We don't eat pork very much but this was good! Pork loin chop seasoned with salt, pepper, cumin and paprika. Put that on the grill then in a pan, saute kale, bell pepper and onion in olive oil.

Once it gets just a little char on it I usually have to cover it for a minute or two to get the kale to wilt so it's not too chewy. Serve along side quinoa! Quinoa can sometimes be a little bland by itself so we've been trying it a few different ways. This one has an orange/vinegar blend on it. Delicious!

Jars, Jars, Jars!

Check out my adorable color stained jar!

I was at my grandparents house and my granny (who often collects things for us from around her house then gives them to us next time we see her....cute:) handed me this jar! I LOVE it! I am planning on staining some of my regular mason jars soon. I love this hue...

I'll be following one of these tutorials :) Pictures to follow!

Happy Friday!

I LOVE the 4th of July! This is a picture from Normandy.

Apart from Christmas it is my favorite holiday. I love the memories, traditions and overall festivities of 4th of July. Growing up my parents used to wake us kids up with BLARING John Philip Sousa's "Stars and Stripes Forever". We used to march around in our pajamas waving flags and pretending they were intruments (is this odd? LOL)! But to this day, on 4th of July morning, it is fun to turn on that music and know my siblings are all doing the same thing at home with their kids. But most of all I love what today symbolizes. FREEDOM

We are free because of the sacrifices of so many, and it is a great day to honor and remember that. But I can't help but rejoice that this is a beautiful symbolism of an even great truth. That even if all this was taken away, the freedom that reigns true in my heart is that I have freedom in Christ. My security and hope lay in Him and Him alone. He died the sacrificial death to give us an eternity of being with God...FREEDOM in him and no longer bound to sin. How great!

Enjoy your families, festivities and freedom today! What traditions do you do with your family!?!

Anthropologie

We all have stores we walk into and just LOVE everything inside. We love the paint color, the furniture, the bedding styles, etc. For me it's Anthropologie.Is there anything from Anthropologie I don't like??? Unfortunately no....that has yet to happen. I think I love this store so much because it's a mish mosh of vintage looking items that somehow work well together. This makes it really EASY to try and replicate....and very HARD to try and replicate. It should be easy since you would think you could put nearly anything together and have it work. But it's hard to find that balance they have so perfectly mastered. Where vintage comfy home meets classy shabby chic. They have it down to the right shades of color, wood, materials and art. But unless you're willing to literally drop a chunk of change (the bedding I love is almost $400, for the BEDSPREAD!) then you're left with scavenging thrift stores and yard sales to get the look you want. Which I actually think is pretty fun :) Next time you have a Saturday morning free check your paper for local listing of yard sales. You'd be amazed what you'll find!

I love this wallpaper from Anthro. I REALLY love the idea of using wallpaper to make a small space more interesting. It's also really trendy right now to put it behind your bed from the wains coating up to create the look of a headboard or behind book shelves for a splash of color.

I like these napkins :)

And pretty much in love with this bedding....in every color. I've tried to get my mom to try and make it for me!!!

It's fun to create the look you want for a FRACTION of the price! Plus, it has more you personality. Happy hunting!

Picture Wall Hanging

I saw this idea on Pinterest and decided to do my own rendition of it. For the original piece click Here!

I loved the idea instantly because I have a box of wedding pictures in a cupboard not being used, plus large frames are so expensive. I like the one from her blog a lot! But I decided I wanted it to look a bit more like a piece of art so I went with wood instead of foam board. We (the Hubs was so sweet to help out!) went to Home Depot and picked out the piece of wood that was a good size for our wall. Then I sanded down the edges so they were smooth and spray painted it black. You could do any color but since I was trying to give the illusion of a frame I chose black.

Once dry I spaced out the pictures in a general spot so I could get an idea of spacing.

SPACING was much more important than I realized! I was hoping I could just eye ball it and be done with it......no. In order to get the look of a frame the spaces between and around need to be the same. So spend some time making marks and making sure it lines up FIRST!

I used blue tape which made it really easy to line the picture right up to it. At first I tried putting the picture down with double sided tape but after TWO WHOLE rows they all popped off because of the wood :( So I started again and used a small dab of Mod Podge and then placed something heavy on top to hold it down.

Then I cut small strips of white paper that were the exact size of my between space.

Here's a picture of how I used things to hold it down while I continued working. If you want to lay a piece of parchment paper down first to protect your pictures you can do that too.

Once they are all where you want them and stuck down slightly, get a bigger, smooth brush and begin to go over the entire thing with the Mod Podge. You may need to use a smaller brush for the edges of the pictures to make sure in the future they don't pop up.

Once dry, hang it up! You're done!!!! I LOVE how it looks on our wall. It's like a wedding album for everyone to see :) 

Thank you so much to my Mother-in-Law who helped me with this!

Sunday...

I love Sundays. I love them because it's the one morning that we have a little bit of a relaxed lazy morning before we are off to church. But I mainly love them because all morning I look forward to going to church. I anticipate great fellowship, worship and teaching and it makes for the best day of my week! This morning I am up before EVERYONE and enjoying some quiet time.

Oh! I also HIGHLY recommend this muffin! It takes ONE minute and is low low carb. Here's the recipe:

Put it all in a ramekin or coffee mug and pop in the microwave for a 1 min. ENJOY YOUR SUNDAY!!!