Springing Ahead

Here are the "after" pictures I promised. This window is in my entry way, so I thought a wreath would be a cute way to add a little seasonal touch. The bunnies were sewn by my grandma years ago.

I just took a plain wreath from the craft store and hot glued in the cherry blossoms, butterflies and a birdie.

Nevermind the dust...

The green balls are made from styrofoam. We just ripped apart some greenery and stuck it in with a bit of hot glue. We were able to make 3 for the price of one pre-made at the store. I love a bargain!

As Belle said, when she surveyed our handy work: it's amazing what you can do with a few fake flowers and some hot glue!

Ready for Spring

Really, I'm more than ready, but since it's still in the 20's up here in the Tundra I'll have to settle for adding a little touch of Spring to my home decor.

The "after" pics will be posted tomorrow. Just as soon as I get some decent sunlight to take them.

How about a recipe?

For as much as I love to cook, I have not posted one recipe or even talked about cooking on this blog. I thought that was a little bit strange! So, here is one of my favorite stand-by recipes. Every time I ask Belle what she wants for dinner she asks for this, even if it's 90 degrees outside! I tend to prefer it when it's cold so we made it for dinner this week (30 below qualifies for cold dontcha think?!). Also, it is easy to keep most of the ingredients in the pantry so you can whip this up even on nights when it seems like you have no groceries left.

Sausage and Corn Chowder

1 lb fully-cooked, smoked sausage (like Hillshire Farms)
1 medium onion, quartered and thinly sliced
2 medium potatoes, cubed
3 cups water
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried parsley flakes
1 can whole-kernal corn, undrained
1 can cream-style corn
1 can evaporated milk

Halve and slice the sausage. In a stockpot, saute the sausage and onion over medium heat, just until the onions are soft. Drain the fat. Add potatoes, water, and seasonings. Simmer until potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and heat through. Enjoy!

I am also working on Project 365, so we've been taking lots of pictures around here. I forgot to get a picture of the finished product, but here's a couple of shots while we were putting it together (one from Belle's perspective and one from mine).

Serena Rayanne

Jake's sister, Heidi had her baby this morning. Meet Serena Rayanne:

She was so content while Belle and I visited, we did hear her cry before we left though!

~Congratulations Heidi and Johnnie!

Post-Holiday Let Down

I look forward to a clean start in January, but I still can't help but feel like the house is just too bare. Especially this wall here:



Ever since I took down the Christmas decorations I haven't been able to find the right arrangement for the table or the shelves and their contents.



I thought I could get away with leaning my window (found at the flea market this summer) up against the wall- that sucker is heavy! BUT, now I think it needs to go up to give some height. What do you think?

What about the shelves? What do I need to do to make them look more interesting?

FYI, I lifted the idea for the "S" canvas from Susie's blog. She sells much prettier things in her Etsy shop.

Have a Rockin' New Year!

There are benefits to being the one behind the camera!

Merry Christmas!

Everything looks so peaceful on Christmas Eve!

Gunnar got to play with Lola, he was so excited! He kept asking "What's that? What's that?"

Lola continued to pull presents from under the tree, run away and chew them up right until the last one was unwrapped. That along with the fact that she had a couple of playmates (Marley and Kia, Uncle Phil and Dawn's boxers) really wore her out. See below:

We really had a wonderful Christmas with lots of family time. Big hugs to our friends and family that we didn't get to see. Love you!