Weekend Get-A-Way

Saturday morning, Jake brought me white daisies before we headed out on our weekend get-a-way. We left for Myrtle Beach around 10am on Saturday. Did some shopping at the outlets - we hit up GAP & Motherhood Maternity. I bought a pair of maternity jeans, hopefully I won't have to start wearing them for a few more weeks. We came back on Sunday afternoon.

Can't wait to fly out to MINNESOTA on Thursday!

MORE yard work

Jake started his Christmas break on Friday. He spent all morning & some of the afternoon working on our yard. He made 3 trips with the back of his Jeep full on pine straw.

The yard is starting to look SO much better!

I'm so thankful for a hard-working husband.

white trash

I'm sure there is a better name for this treat, but we call it white trash. Made some tonight to put into containers for friends of ours.

It's so easy & so yummy.

One of my favorites because I LOVE chocolate covered pretzels.

baby news

We are expecting our first baby on June 27!

Picture taken on October 15, the day the doctor confirmed that I am pregnant.

Our first ultrasound. Baby measured 6 weeks 5 days (instead of 8 weeks 3 days so they moved my due date).

From my appointment yesterday, they had to do an ultrasound to check the heartbeat.

Almost 11 weeks. A friend of mine told me once, how she bought a fabric tape measurer for her pregnancy and would measure & write the weeks on it. Then you can use it for each pregnancy to compare. I loved that idea & have remembered it for years. So far my waist has grown 1 1/2 inches since we first found out.

We will be measuring Jake's progress as well. (He is purposefully sticking out his stomach here.)

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

We finished decorating for Christmas last night.

Well, I'm off to wrap some presents!

Happy Thanksgiving

Jake's parents flew in last Saturday and are here until Friday morning, after Thanksgiving. We have enjoyed having them here with us. My sister, Emily, came Wednesday evening and is here until Saturday afternoon. Thanksgiving is best with family!

Made a Carmel Apple Pie & Pumpkin Pie on Wednesday.

Our 18 pound turkey, seasoned & ready to go in the oven.

Our Thanksgiving feast:

Turkey, Mashed Potatoes, Stuffing, Corn, Green Bean Casserole, Zweibach & Cranberries.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING

"Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good,
for His steadfast love endures forever."
Psalm 136:1

yard work

This morning Jake headed out to tackle the front flower beds, while I cleaned the inside of the house. The previous owner planted lots of bushes, randomly (in flower beds & the middle of the yard). Jake is working on transplanting them and placing them.

Looking like flower beds!

man of MANY talents

I decided to make stromboli today. I strongly dislike rolling out the dough. So my helpful & talented husband helped me. I got an action shot! Impressive, huh?
I forgot to take a picture of the stromboli when it came out of the oven. It looked good & tasted even better.

ART

I have been looking for ART for both of our bathrooms for months. I could list a dozen or more stores that I have gone to searching for art. Since I couldn't find anything, I decided to make my own. I already had these frames with the matting. They used to have prints in them of an old phone & typewriter. I took the frame apart, used some scrapbooking paper, did some cutting & pasting (literally) & put it all back together. So excited to finally have art in our bathroom.

For My Minnesota Friends

Picked up some Dunkin Donuts whole bean coffee today. I couldn't help but think of my MN friends who LOVE Dunkin Donuts coffee, but do not have a Dunkin Donuts store. I remember how excited they were when Target started carrying DD coffee. Anyways, I just wanted my friends to know that I think about them a lot & miss them like crazy.

I also wanted to show off my cute new sign. You can change what kind of coffee is in the mug as well as the date. Love it! Thanks Dave & Jenny.

tis' the season. . .for BABIES

We have 3 ladies in our church that are due any day. One of them is due October 5 and the other two are due October 7. Two of the babies have come and we got to meet them both this evening.

Our friends Adam & Anna welcomed their first child into the world on Sunday evening. A sweet baby girl, Kinley Grace - 8 pounds 1 ounce and 21 inches long. I forgot to take a close up of Kinley, but here is Jake "holding" her - don't ask.

Our friends Dave & Jenny welcomed their third child on Monday morning. A sweet baby girl, Ailie Grace - 8 pounds 13 ounces and 22 inches long. Below are her proud big brother & big sister.

birthday party

Jake & I are taking care of Micah a Laci for a few days this week. Their Mom is having a baby on Monday. We took Micah & Laci tonight after church. It is Micah's 8th birthday, so we had a little party!

Happy 8th Birthday, Micah! We're so glad you got to share your birthday with us.

No Sew Window Treatment

My next project, on the house, really needs to be the window treatments. We have 2" white "wood" blinds in all the windows but I need that finishing touch. I have been dragging my feet a little with this project because it will be hours of sewing. I am planning on doing drapes for the living room (3 windows) & dining room (1 large window). I also need window treatments for both spare bedrooms (2 windows total). I have drapes up in our master bedroom, but I am not really in love with the fabric. They were given to me & they match our bedding so they are up for now.

Today I made a no sew (board mounted) window treatment for the grey bedroom. I have these tea towels from Anthropologie that I LOVE. You may recognize them from here. I used my trusty staple gun & another one of our extra pickets, from the fence, for the board.

Now on to the next room . . .but first I need to find fabric.

Happenings Around the House

#1 - Cleaning the North Side of the House
Our house was pressure-washed in July, but the North side of the house did not come too clean. There was still mildew & mold on the siding. Saturday morning we sprayed the side of the house with water & bleach. We ended up using a deck brush as well & TAaa-DaaAaa - it's WHITE . . .not grey.

#2 - Growing Grass

We've been working on growing grass in the bare spots in our back yard. Since Jake took those trees out, we now get sunlight on more of the backyard. Jake seeded the yard & then we've been watering it daily. It's lookin' good.

find of the week

I have seen these numbered & lettered porcelain balls in magazines & online stores. I LOVE them, but they are usually way overpriced. Today I found them at New River Pottery for only 99 cents each!
The lettered balls were very picked over.
I ended up getting our anniversary & an F.

I put them in an empty glass jar that is on top of the buffet. LOVE IT!

Carmel Apple Pie

This a Flaming family favorite! I got this recipe from my sister-in-law, Jen. I just pulled this out of the oven this afternoon. Can't wait to have some tonight.

• One 9" pie crust
• 6 cups apples, peeled & sliced
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 Tbsp. flour
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 cup oats
• 1/2 cup butter
• Carmel

Put pie crust in 9" pie plate. Mix apples, sugar, flour, cinnamon & salt. Put in pie shell. Mix up topping in bowl (brown sugar, flour, oats & butter). Bake pie at 375 for 25 minutes with foil covering the crust & then another 25 minutes without foil. Drizzle carmel on top of pie as soon as you pull it out of the oven.

Around the House on a Saturday

Jake & I are staying in town this holiday weekend. We still have a list of little things to get done around the house and yard. We do realize that this list will be never ending. . .welcome to home ownership!
Jake got up & started edging the sidewalk on the north side of our house. I ran to the store to get some grocery's and then started painting this tile-top table. It was a pastel green. I taped it off & started painting.
Done. I painted it the blue we had in our main bathroom at the condo (Martha Stewart - Summer Cottage). Love it!

While I was working inside, Jake & Adam were working outside. They took out at least 5 trees in our yard.

Trip #2 with the branches & clippings.

Jake & I stacked up the wood from the trees that were cut down. Now we have wood in our fireplace & a woodpile out back. Can't wait for a fire this winter.

cookie monster

A few months back, Jake found this yummy cookie recipe. These cookies are almost as good as Potbelly's! While Anna was here, Jake made them for the second time. Just had to share this recipe. . .they are great!

SOFT-CHEWY CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
From COOKS.COM
----------------------------------------------------------
1 c. butter
1 c. sugar
1 c. brown sugar
2 eggs
2 1/2 c. oatmeal (powdered in blender)
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla
2 c. flour
1 pkg. chocolate chips (semi-sweet)
1 1/2 c. nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cream butter and sugars. Blend in eggs; add oatmeal. Mix dry ingredients. Mix will be very stiff. Mix in chips and nuts. Put 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 9 minutes - no more!

ANNA's here

Jake's sister, Anna, flew in on Wednesday evening. We have been to the beach a few times so far. Tonight we went down to Carolina Beach to Britt's Donut Shop. It was my first time there, as well as Anna's.

We walked along Carolina Beach & the Boardwalk.

Finishing off the DOZEN donuts. Jake ate SIX!