Soulful Sunday

 See to it, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.
Hebrews 3:12-13

Recently Elise has started singing a song that goes like this..."What's going to work? Teamwork! What's going to work? Teamwork!" She will repeat this over and over. It is so sweet to hear her little voice sing such encouraging words. You know the old saying, "teamwork makes the dream work". As a family this is especially true. We have to produce an environment of encouragement and teamwork to keep each other going. Home is our refuge towards what can be a very discouraging world. But the encouraging attitude should not stop with our families. What if we approched each day with encouragement towards all we meet? Maybe people's hearts would soften a bit and they too would pass on the positive to all they meet.

Wednesday night we attended the children's choir musical at our church. We thought it would be fun for Elise to see and we wanted to support and encourage the kids. It was a great production and the kids did a fantastic job!  Here are a few photos from the night.

Summer Time & The Living Is Easy!

Outdoor entertaining should be easy too.

Present salad in single-serving lidded jars. Not only is this a unique way of serving up your favorite summer time salad, but it keeps bugs out of the buffet. Eying the lovely salad? Find the recipe here.

Give place cards a twist by writing guests names on fresh lemons.

Give the old boxed lunch some flair by packing it in Oilcloth Lunch Bags.

Learn how to make your own at marthastewart.com

Crudite anyone? It's a centerpiece and Hors d'Oeuvre platter in one! Learn how to put this together here.

By the sea? Keep it clean by using this watering can shower idea.

Creative Juices Sewing

It has been about four years since my sewing machine has seen the light of day. Hubby bought the sewing machine for our second anniversary, because I just knew I would become a master seamstress and kept hinting at buying one. My motivation lasted a few months, and ended with a disastrous t-shirt attempt! Up until the t-shirt project, I had successfully made a few pillows, hemmed curtains, nothing major. I don't know what I was thinking when I set out to sew a t-shirt, but I tried and failed miserably! This past weekend I decided to put my basic sewing skills to use and make a valance for Elise's bathroom. I found some old fabric, and ribbon, and started piecing it all together. 

Here is the final result.

 It's not perfect, but I had fun and best of all, it did not cost anything to make. 

For my next trick, I am going to make some pillow shams to go with our new DwellStudio coverlet from Target.

Blue finds at Etsy

Willywaw on Etsy

reiter8 on Etsy

Soulful Sunday

From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.

Luke 12:48

Last Sunday our church celebrated 40 years of God's provision. We also celebrated our newest building additions, which include an AMAZING kids building. It is such a blessing to have a church to call home!

Fun Finds

Puppy Antique Toy Pillow found at Gretel

Circus inspired room via Minor Details

 Lovely lemonade stand from Land Of Nod

Mad About Plaid @ Zulily

New Today! Taylor Joelle Designs

Up to 50% off | Ends 5/26

@ Zulily

New Today! PAPABEAR

Up to 40% off | Ends 5/26

 @ Zulily 

 

Take Cover at Janie and Jack

Protect those cute little heads from the summer sun with  hats from Janie and Jack.

Pinkalicious!

Yesterday after work Elise, Hubby and I whipped up a batch of pink strawberry cupcakes to go along with one of Elise's favorite books, Pinkalicious! Pinkalicious is the story of a little girl who loves the color pink. She and her mom bake pink cupcakes, and the little girl eats so many, that she turns pink! This book is all girl and so much fun.

As we read the book the three of us had a feast of pink cupcakes!

Today, Elise shared a batch with her class. She was so excited to share the Pinkalicious cupcakes with her classmates!

Mother's Day Recap & Room Reveal

Thanks to everyone who participated in my first linky party! I so enjoyed reading all the wonderful tributes to your mothers.

The past Mother's Day weekend, we enjoyed time with family and friends. It was a great weekend! On Saturday we visited my brother and his sweet wife. They are newlyweds and just bought their first house. After our visit, we stopped by Old Town Spring, a quaint little area of Spring, TX (about 30 min. outside of Houston). The town is an early 1900's railroad town. You will find various boutiques, tearooms, restaurants, art galleries, etc. First we had lunch at Ellen's Cafe.

Then we found an amazing store called Metals, Petals & More.

Where I found a room filled with beautiful bathroom vanities and chandeliers.

And fell in love with this piece.

Next we found a gallery with a bubble machine out front, Elise loved this.

Then we all enjoyed a pipping hot funnel cake! This was Elise's first funnel cake and she loved it!

I finally got around to taking photos of Elise's new big girl room! She is so happy with her new bed and has not missed her crib/toddler bed one bit.

I Love Mom Party!

Today is Mother's Day and in honor of motherhood I am hosting my first linky party. Include your favorite photo of your mom and complete this statement, "The Greatest thing I have learned from my mother...".

Honor your mom here by joining the celebration.

To My Mom

 (mom and me)

The Greatest thing I have learned from my mother is to have a giving heart. She has the gift of service and will bend over backwards to help out, especially when it comes to me and my brother. She will rescue just about any situation from certain doom and have it come out smelling like a rose. She calls herself an old work horse, but I don't think so at all, she is more like Wonder Woman in my book. Swooping in, cleaning house (in more ways than one!), and holding us all together. 

 (mom and elise)

  (mom)

Here's to a fabulous woman, my MOM!

Thank you mom for all that you are, all that you do, and all that you've helped me become. 

I love you mom! Happy Mother's Day!

 Join the party and celebrate your mom by linking up

Product Recall News

Just in case you have not heard, here is a link to the FDA on recent product recalls. The recall is on many Children's and Infant's liquid products. We had two on the list, one of which we had given to Elise (4 doses) a few weeks back when she had a fever all weekend. Quality Control issues are bound to happen with any product, but this really set me off! We give the medicine to help improve the condition, and something like this happens that could do more harm than good. It is frightening enough dealing with kids and fever. We make sure and measure out the precise does, then struggle with the little patient to get them to take the medication, and now add worry that what we just administered may be off spec! Just had to vent a little on this one.

Pack Your Picnic Basket

Modified Orzo Salad With Lemon, Feta, and Pine Nuts

The past week/weekend moved at rapid pace! What was going to be my all time favorite summer pasta salad, has turned into my modified favorite pasta salad, or as mom says, everything but the kitchen sink meal.

Here is the official recipe from the Bride & Groom cookbook.

Ingredients

1/4 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1 cup orzo

1/4 cup pine nuts

1/4 cup golden raisins

3 tablespoons finely chopped pitted oil-cured  black olives

3 tablespoons finely chopped red onion

1/4 cup thinly sliced fresh basil

2 ounces feta cheese, drained and crumbled

(As I modified the recipe tonight, you can use your favorite veggies, etc. The key is the dressing)

the dressing

whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, oregano, the 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, the 1/8 teaspoon pepper, and the sugar in a small bowl. Set aside.

the pasta

Cook the orzo, adding the salt to the water to boil. (8 to 10 min.) Drain and transfer to a medium bowl. Add the dressing to the hot pasta and toss to coat. Let cool to room temp., stirring occasionally.

top it off 

Put the pin nuts in a dry small skillet over medium-low heat. Shake constantly until evenly toasted on all sides, about 5 min.

Add the pine nuts, raisins, olives, red onion, and basil and stir to combine. Add the feta and toss lightly.

Enjoy!