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Friday, April 26, 2013

High Five For Friday!

Hey, hey! It's Friday (night by this time) haha and I am headed to an all-night lock in with our teens! I must be losing my mind, right? It should be a blast though! This week has been fun and busy!

1. Tuesday night we went to see the Canes play...and they won in a shootout! Definitely exciting, and hockey is so much better from a suite's perspective!

2. This week was Administrative Professionals Week, so our bosses treated us to lunch and prizes! Love these people!



3. I played the role of teacher on Thursday!
4. My husband allowed me some much needed time alone in which I indulged in some Target Therapy! My husband's words, "How can you walk around Target for two hours and enjoy it?" Haha...just my thing!
5. Today I was catering with Stephen's Catering...the best chef I know! StephensCatering

Have a great weekend everyone!

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Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Tuesday Tune-Up: Cleaning Routine

How does your typical cleaning week go? Do you get frustrated and panicked when company is on the way and your house is not exactly company-ready? Do you get overwhelmed by trying to everything in the house at the same time? If you are answering, "Yes!" then let me share with you a few things to change in your cleaning schedule that will help you take off the stress.

I love to keep a clean house. Now, I understand that when you add kids to the mix, this job becomes much more difficult. During the day while little man plays, there are toys scattered all over the living room and kitchen, but there are definitely ways to manage how many toys escape from the toy box and how to keep the house from looking like a war zone.

Here's how I manage to keep my house clean (relatively) on a day-to-day basis.

1. Plan of Attack:

Establishing a routine cleaning schedule saved my life after little man was born. Instead of trying to clean everything in one day during nap time (and becoming unnecessarily frustrated because you can't finish in time) just pick one or two things that you know you will be able to tackle and finish. 

I've shown this before, but it's been a while so let me share it again. I love this cleaning schedule that I found at moneysavingmom.com. To download it for yourself, click HERE! This list covers what you will do daily and when you will do it during the day. Not a SAHM (stay-at-home-mom)? The customize it to fit your schedule! Of course all of our schedules will be different, but you must find out what works for you and stick with it!

Here are some more that I love to use: 

2. Be Consistent:

Be as on schedule and as consistent as you possibly can be with your cleaning schedule. You will quickly get into the habit of your routine, and accomplishing your daily cleaning tasks will become faster and more efficient as you go along. If you know that you are going to miss a day's cleaning, schedule it in to other days of the week, but plan it out so that it gets done. 

3. Quick Pick-Up:

I have a few times during the day that I do a "quick pick-up." The first time is naptime. I LOVE NAPTIME! It gives me just enough time to accomplish much needed tasks around the house. At the beginning of naptime, I make sure all of little man's toys are picked up and put away (yes, we are starting to train him to clean up, but it would take an hour for him to do it all right now). This means that when it's time to play again, he has to start over with destroying the house instead of adding to the chaos he created earlier (slight exaggeration there). Actually, you can greatly minimize toy pick up by training your child to play with one toy at a time instead of free reign in the toy box. If you have older kids, have them participate in the quick clean up before lunch or nap. (We won't get into chore charts right now). 

My next quick pick-up is right before hubby gets home. I want him to come home to a house that at least seems to be in order. This means cleaning up the toys, straightening up, and vacuuming if needed. It's nice if you can remember to light a few candles and make everything smell good too! 

My final pick up is right before little man's bedtime. We get everything put back in its place before we sit to enjoy a little quiet to relax. And trust me, relaxing is so much better when the house is clean. 



Friday, April 19, 2013

High Five For Friday

Happy Friday, People! For some reason, this week has gone by slowly. I dunno, I've been busy, but I keep thinking it's Saturday for some odd reason. Well, sorry I've been absent from the blogosphere this week. I have been slammed with work and projects that demand my time and take priority. At least I'm blessed to be busy! Well, here are a few fun things that happened this week.

1. We had a family date night on Tuesday which included some shopping for Phil, a free meal at Shane's Rib Shack (thank you Entertainment book), Coldstone, and some perusing around Toys-R-Us (which led to little man finding his dream car).

2. Grandma Ammons Update. She is slowly getting better! On Monday, her numbers had returned to where they were when she was admitted, but since have been coming down. She wanted to check her facebook yesterday :) So it appears she is feeling better too! PTL!

3. Closet Switch. I accomplished my closet switch-out in about an hour today - That's record time! (Boring fact, sorry people, I'm scraping here!)

4. Mommy/Son Date - Owen I spent some time at Pullen Park and then indulged ourselves in some Krispy Kreme! 

5. Hubby comes home. Phil has been gone since Wednesday night and I am sooooooo ready for him to come home Today! Yay! Should be a great weekend!

Happy Friday Everyone!

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Friday, April 12, 2013

High Five For Friday

Happy Friday, everyone! I hope that you have had an awesome week! Looks like a pretty stormy morning around here, but hopefully some sunshine this afternoon (in time to grill some burgers I hope). Well, here's what happened with me this week...

1) My baby rode in a helicopter!

Needless to say, I was definitely nervous, but he wasn't! He enjoyed flying high in the sky for about 3 minutes! He rode the "copter" as he would say. 







2) I started a detox water experiment. 

Found this on pinterest and decided to try it out. We'll see what happens. It actually doesn't taste bad at all - reminds me especially of Lipton's green tea. 

3) Pray for Grandma Ammons.

My husband's grandma was admitted to the hospital on Monday. She has CO2 poisoning in her body right now, along with other complications,  and they aren't able to bring her levels down. She is in critical condition, and our family would greatly appreciate your prayers for her. 


4) I got the yard ready for spring! 

I love spring time, and nothing says spring like weeding - the only part about spring that I hate! But after the hard work was done, I planted a few flowers and potted some by the door. 

5) National Sibling Day. 

I love my siblings! Here are a few photos from times past that I dug out of the archives! Good times! 





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Thursday, April 11, 2013

Bargain Bounty

I just scored some awesome deals at Target and thought that I should share them with you! You've got until Saturday at close to get them for yourself!


Yeah, doesn't look like a ton, but with prices skyrocketing these days, it's hard to get a good bang for your buck. Before my coupons and special promos, this cost me $52.45. Ridiculous, I know. 
BUT, after my coupons, my total was $21.35. Yes, everything was a necessary item (except maybe the nail polish, but hey! it was BOGO!) that will feed or care for my family! 

So, what deals do you need to scoop up? Here are the sales I took advantage of: 

DiGiorno Pizzas: $5 on sale; use $1 target coupon, with $1.50 manufacturer's coupon = $2.50 per pizza

Drumstick Ice Cream: FREE with purchase of 3 DiGiorno pizzas (5.99 value)

Method Cleaning Products: $2.66 on sale, use $1.00 coupon makes it $1.66

Garnier Shampoo or Conditioner: $2.99 on sale, use $1.00 target coupon and $1.00 manufacturer's coupon = $.99

Nexcare Spiderman Bandaids: $1.68 on sale, use $.55 manufacturer coupon from SS 4/7 = $1.13

Benadryl Itch Stick: $2.39, use $2.00 Benadryl coupon from RP 4/7 = $.39

Dove Men + Care Deodorant: $2.89, use $1.00 target coupon, and $1.00 manufacturer's coupon in paper = $.89 

I also had a BOGO Sally Hansen nail polish coupon, so I used it :) 
Grabbed a few packs of cards from the dollar spot too! 

Wanted to share these awesome deals with you! Hope you are gearing up for an awesome weekend! 

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Spring Cleaning and Organizing



How is your spring cleaning coming along? As you re-organize and clean out, remember that you must make your space functional for you! What works for me may not work for you, but we can always be inspired by others' projects. I wanted to bring a little inspiration your way today to perhaps help with your spring cleaning motivation!

The Kitchen

The kitchen is definitely on my mind because I just completely cleaned mine out this week! Whew! Yes, it was work, but I was motivated by this post. This blog is actually on the top of my list when it comes to organizing! 

Click here to read all about it!


The Closet

Here's an earlier post on organizing my closet! (Just in case you missed it)
Click Here to check it out!
Here's some more pantry inspiration:


Click Here

The Pantry: 

An organized pantry just makes working with food so much more fun!

Click Here!



Click Here!

For those with smaller spaces or just cabinets....
IMG_6826

Click Here!

The Laundry Room:


Sorry, just a pic for these two!



I love the shelving here...for those of us who only have a closet, not a room. 


This makes me smile! Using pretty baskets to hide everything! Love!
Click Here!

I'd love to see your organizing projects! 








Monday, April 8, 2013

Dinner in a Pan

Today we are talking food! I came across this super simple recipe on Pinterest and decided to give it a whirl. I took pics of the whole meal that I made as well, but apparently, I forgot to save those pics. So, this pic is the one from my pinterest board, but I couldn't find any info when clicking on the link. But no worries! I wrote out all of the directions for this super simple meal for you!

Needless to say, it was a great success at my table! I love this when I have little time to prep and clean. You simply throw it all into the pan and bake! My husband even commented, "Who know you could bake all of that stuff in the same pan!"



Instructions:
* Grease a 9x13 pan
* Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
* Wash and slice 5-6 new potatoes.
* Place 3-4 chicken breasts in the center of the pan.
* Place string beans (canned or frozen) down one side of the pan.
     (you can actually use any green veggie here - broccoli would be great as well)
* Place new potatoes down the opposite side of the pan.
* Sprinkle a whole packet of Kraft Italian seasoning/dressing mix over everything in the pan.
* Top with 1 stick (1/2 cup) of melted butter.
* Cover with foil.
* Bake @ 350 for one hour.
* Enjoy!

Friday, April 5, 2013

High Five for Friday

This week has flown by! Wow! But it has definitely been a good week.

1. Formal with the Hubby. Last Friday night my husband and I attended our church school's annual JR/SR banquet. My brother is a senior this year...sniff sniff :( but it was a fun night, and I love to get dressed up every now and then!


2. Easter Sunday was a fantastic day at our church! Here's a link to watch the dramatic musical that we put on! Praise the Lord for those that were saved! Easter Drama 

3. Easter Outfits. We went with navy, gray, and yellow...bowtie is my favorite!

4. Kitchen Clean-Out. I pulled everything out of my kitchen cabinets yesterday, cleaned my oven, cleaned behind my oven and fridge, and reorganized! Feeling pretty good about my kitchen. And yes, I got a sitter to watch little man. No way I get this done with his walking around in it! 

5. Dried strawberries. I'm trying some DIY dried strawberries today! My house smells amazing! I'll let you know how this pinterest experiment goes. 

Happy Friday! Have a great weekend! 

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Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Tuesday Tune-Up: Chair Makeover

Meet my office chair. It's gorgeous, antique, and weathered, and I love it!
BUT, I didn't love the fabric on it. What to do? I went searching for leftover fabric from my son's nursery accents, and Voila! I found barely enough blue chevron fabric to cover the cushion! I am in love with my chair's new look! It makes me want to sit in it...haha!

How about you? Is there something around your house that could use an upholstery face lift? Here's how to take on this relatively simple project.


1. Remove the cushion. 

Most cushioned chairs are screwed in on the bottom side. This chair just had four screws I needed to remove.


2. Remove existing fabric. 

Since this piece of fabric was stapled in well, I used a flat-head screwdriver to pop out the staples. You'll want to remove them all to ensure a nice, tight fit for the new fabric. 


3. Prepare new fabric. 

I used the old piece of fabric as a pattern for how much of the new fabric I would need. Cut the fabric and place it face down on the floor. Next, center your cushion face down on the fabric. Make sure it is centered to ensure that your fabric will cover correctly. 


4. Start Stapling. 

To adhere the fabric, all you need is a staple gun. So much fun by the way! Pull the fabric tight and even while stapling every 3 inches. On the corners, you will create one fold - remember, pull tight! 

5. Finish the product. 

After you have completed the stapling, trim the excess fabric, leaving about one inch around the staples. Secure the seat back to the chair and VOILA! You've successfully covered your cushion! 


Here's my new chair! 



 I love love love it! Definitely more fun to sit in a cute chair!

Additional Suggestions:

You could always find a cheap goodwill or thrift accent chair and spruce it up for a fabulous touch in your home!

Add an accent pillow and you are speaking my language!

If you have a chair that needs additional padding, be sure to cut the padding so that it overlays around the edges. If not, you'll be feeling a little bite from the wood's edge every time you sit down :)

Linked up with notjustahousewife, and howtotuesday